By Horace Holloman At 36, anthropology major Deena Byfield says she’s in disbelief that she will finally walk across the stage to accept her bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University.
Byfield, who first attended college 18 years ago, is the first of her immediate family to graduate from a four-year institution.
“Statistically, I’m not supposed to be here right now,” Byfield said. “I pinch myself every day. There’s so many sacrifices you have to make to get a degree.
“I won’t believe it's real until I hear my name and I walk across the stage.”
Byfield first attended college at Clark Atlanta University with aspirations of becoming a doctor.
Three years into her collegiate journey, Byfield met her fiancé, had a child and decided to leave school early to gain more work experience. But her life turned upside down when her fiancé, the father of her child, died.
“It was a very dark time,” she said. “I was 22 when he passed away and we had planned a future together. It was devastating and set me back mentally and on my career path as well.”
For nearly a decade, Byfield worked as a registered medical assistant to support her son, Adrian Blash.
But in 2018, Byfield said she was ready for a career change and wanted to go back to school. With the support of her family and friends, Byfield enrolled at Georgia State, eager to start a new journey.
“This process has been liberating and so freeing,” Byfield said. “It feels so good to finally do what I want to do and not just what’s expected of me.”
After graduation, Byfield plans to pursue a master’s in anthropology with a focus on museum studies.
And she’s encouraging her son, who aspires to be an animator, to attend college, and plans to take him on a tour of Georgia State’s Creative Media Industries Institute soon.
“I try to tell my son that all of the setbacks I faced don’t matter,” Byfield said. “You can still do anything you want to do.”
-Photo by Raven Schley