May 23, 2005 (Vol. 1, No. 9)

Speech Major Manages College and Family of Six

This is the second in a series of profiles of selected graduates of the class of 2005.

Being a mother is hard work in itself. Mothering six children under the age of twelve and going to college full-time seems almost impossible, but Olympia Striplin was able do it and earn her bachelor's degree from Lehman in just four years.

Before starting her college career, Striplin had already accumulated her real estate license as well as several other state licenses, and had held a variety of jobs, from administrative assistant to cashier. But she was looking for something more meaningful. "It wasn't what I wanted to do. It wasn't fulfilling," she says. More importantly, she wanted to set a good example to her children, ages 12, 10, 8, 7-year-old twins, and 4. "They should see you at least have a couple of notches on your belt," says Striplin.

She decided to enroll in Lehman because of its reputation and proximity to her home, and became interested in speech pathology after watching a speech pathologist work with her son. "I liked what she did because it was helping people," she says. Striplin entered Lehman through the SEEK program, which helps New York City students who demonstrate academic promise and economic need to enroll in four-year CUNY colleges by providing financial aid and academic support.

Going to school full-time and managing the children, she admits, was not easy. "It's really hard trying to find someone to watch six kids," she notes. Once she had to take her youngest child to class with her when she was just a baby. "I got help wherever I could." Family and friends chipped in to help with the children, but maintaining her grades was still a tough balancing act. "Sometimes you feel like, this is too hard, but stopping was not an option for me."

In October, Striplin presented her research on bilingual children and reading discrimination at the University of Maryland McNair Conference with her mentor, Professor Sandra Levy (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences). The McNair Scholars program is a pre-Ph.D. program designed to help first generation college students with their research and prepare them for graduate school. In 2006, Striplin will enter Lehman's master's program in speech pathology and, after that, go on for her Ph.D. "I definitely want my own practice," she says. "That's the name of the game."

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