THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505230111
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CARROLLTON LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
The late winter and early spring before Andrea Robinson's graduation from Paul D. Camp Community College this month were very hectic.
Robinson's 80-year-old grandmother, with whom she lived as a child, suffered a heart attack and was unconscious for several days. Robinson was working two jobs, going to college, and still trying hard to remain active in her Christian Home Baptist Church choir in Windsor.
``It was the middle of the semester,'' she says. ``I was behind. I had to do a reading journal, an analytical paper, two term papers. I said, `Lord, what am I going to do?' ''
It was a question Robinson apparently had answered years before, soon after she graduated in 1984 from Smithfield High School with no real career ambitions.
She had decided then that she wanted to go to college, no matter how long it took to graduate. She was going to do what she had to do.
``I did the best I could. I was determined to get my work done, and I did. I passed everything in on time. I got through it.''
The best she could do, when she got her degree in office systems technology with a specialization in word information processing, was a 3.5-plus average, magna cum laude.
``You can't give up,'' she says. ``There were plenty of times when I wanted to go out with friends, but I had to tell them no. There were more important things.''
Things like taking over as part-time caretaker of her grandmother. Since March, when her grandmother came home from the hospital with brain damage, Robinson added that task to her already-hectic schedule.
Today, Robinson lives with her grandmother in Carrollton. She gets up at 4 a.m., and she's at work with the Isle of Wight County Health Department, where she's a personal-care aide, by 5:30. She got her license for that in 1994, while attending college and working two jobs.
By 2 p.m., she's home again to take over from other relatives the care of her grandmother. On weekends, she works part time at Smithfield Station as a waitress.
She may have missed out on things and may still be missing out, she says, but there are no regrets.
``If you're determined, you have to make time.''
Robinson was merely ``considering'' going into nursing when she graduated from high school, but she had no firm plans. She worked at Smithfield Station and worked part time at a retail clothing store in Newport News. Still, she says, it was in the back of her mind to finish her education.
In 1989, she enrolled in one class at Camp: computer information systems.
``The course gave me a little background information on computers,'' she says. ``I did well, and I decided to enroll.''
In the fall of 1990, she enrolled in four classes, including basic math, medical terminology, English. By '92, she was a member of the Paul D. Camp Honor Society and made the National Dean's List.
``I thought then that I wanted to be either a medical secretary or an executive secretary. I like dealing with the public, but I also like working with computers.''
That's why she's now decided to go even further: Robinson plans to take more basic classes at Camp and transfer to Christopher Newport University to pursue a degree in computer programming.
``I've come this far,'' she says. ``I can't give up now.''
Paul D. Camp officials recognize the hard work of students like Robinson - those who work, attend school, keep up with family commitments.
``I know there were times when it was really hard for Andrea, especially after her grandmother got sick,'' says Patsy Joyner, director of institutional advancement.
``But she stuck it out, and she did a great job.'' ILLUSTRATION: Robinson
by CNB