THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505110048
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
TODAY Sharita Dawson and Gwendolyn Haynes will once again climb into their red Hyundai.
For four years they've commuted together in that cramped car, putting as many as 100 miles a day on the odometer. They drive the subcompact with a sunroof from their apartment in Virginia Beach to Norfolk State University and back several times a day. They juggle the car and their schedules.
``That car,'' moans Dawson. ``It's been the worst part of going to college.''
``I can't wait till we're not sharing a car anymore,'' groans Haynes in agreement.
But that's what happens when a mother and daughter enroll in college together and share a car to save money.
Haynes and Dawson have been college roommates for four years. They both majored in English and both have a good shot at graduating at Scope today with honors.
For Dawson, 21, graduating from college is a rite of passage, part of what was expected of her after high school. For her mother, however, graduation is something she's longed for since she was a teenager - before a couple of marriages and two children forced her into a daunting detour on her way to a baccalaureate.
``I don't care at all about the cap and gown part of it,'' says Haynes, 44. ``For me, just getting a college degree is accomplishing a life goal.''
Gwendolyn Haynes married at 18 and had her son, Kevin, when she was 19. At 23 Sharita came along. That marriage ended in divorce. As a single mother supporting herself and two children, Haynes could do little but dream about college.
But when Sharita graduated from Salem High School in 1991, Haynes knew her time had come.
Together, mother and daughter filled out their college applications and financial-aid forms. Together, they were accepted. Together, they bought a car.
During their sophomore year, Dawson gave birth to a daughter of her own - Bryahna. She decided not to marry her boyfriend because to do so would mean dropping out and moving to Arkansas.
``I wanted to finish college,'' Dawson says. ``I only missed two weeks of classes when she was born.''
After the baby arrived, Haynes and Dawson not only shuttled themselves to classes in that little car - they did it with a baby in tow.
``I don't know what I would have done without my mother,'' Dawson says. ``She took care of Bryahna a lot while I had classes.''
``But not at night,'' her mother interjects.
Nighttime found Haynes at home studying - poring over piles of prose and poetry. .
And as soon as Bryahna was sleeping, Sharita joined her mother at the dining-room table.
Although they both majored in English, they have different interests. Haynes loves the classics, ``Beowulf,'' ``Canterbury Tales'' and Shakespeare. Dawson prefers contemporary works - ``Black Boy'' by Richard Wright and ``The Fire Next Time,'' by James Baldwin.
Haynes had a 4.0 average her final semester, so she'll graduate with a 3.71 overall average - just a tenth of a point short of summa cum laude honors.
Dawson is ``trying to maintain her cum laude'' honors by graduating - she hopes - with a 3.0.
As the two women sit in their stylish living room with jazz playing softly on the stereo, the affection they feel for each other is obvious.
``She is so disciplined,'' Dawson gushes about her mother. ``She works so hard. Seeing her studying all the time made me work harder when I was tempted to goof off.''
Haynes says she understands why her daughter's grades are lower than hers.
``Experience is a good teacher,'' she says, ``and I think that helped me with my studies. It's much harder to stay focused when you're young.''
Haynes likes studying so much that she's applied to graduate school in the fall. After she earns her master's degree, she wants to be Gwendolyn Haynes, PhD.
Dawson, on the other hand, dreams of a job and a paycheck.
``I'm hoping to find something proofreading documents or in technical writing,'' she says.
Once she's employed, Dawson plans to move out and find a little apartment for herself and Bryahna.
And she's going to buy a car.
``My own car,'' Dawson says, smiling broadly. ``I can't wait.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BETH BERGMAN/Staff
Sherita Dawson, left, 21, and her mother, Gwendolyn Haynes, 44, are
senior English majors.
by CNB