Ranique Crawford’s mother taught her that overcoming obstacles was not just possible, it was necessary. Ranique overcame several obstacles in her life in order to achieve her dreams of higher education. Despite hard times, Ranique credits her mother as the key to her own success.
Like many children today, Ranique Crawford grew up in a single-parent home. Her mother quit school in order to work and provide for Ranique and her three siblings. Early in Ranique’s life, her mother began using drugs. While the drugs consumed her mother’s life, Ranique and her siblings moved with their mother from one drug treatment facility to another. They were also shuffled from school to school and missed many days in the classroom.
The constant moving around made Ranique the new kid at school very often, which resulted in teasing from her schoolmates. Despite the taunting, Ranique never lost respect for herself…or her mother.
During her early teens, Ranique and her family were homeless and living in a local hotel. When her mother ran out of money, Ranique and her siblings went to live with their grandparents. The children stayed with their grandparents for the next two years, while their mother worked to get off drugs and back on track. Ranique also began seeing a counselor, who helped her open up about her situation and face her problems. The couselor helped Ranique deal with the teasing from other children.
Eventually, Ranique was able to reunite with her mother, and they became a family once again. Ranique watched as her mother worked hard over the next several years to maintain her sobriety and provide for her family. Ranique finally had a permanent home and was able to attend Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville, Tenn., during her entire high school career.
Despite witnessing her mother’s struggle, moving from place to place and enduring homelessness, Ranique never lost her love for academics. As a senior at Pearl Cohn, Ranique was ranked in the top of her class and graduated with a 3.7 GPA. She also was involved in a number of extracurricular activities, including softball and the Yearbook Committee. Ranique currently attends Tennessee State University.
