MyKeal a Mother of Two and a Recent Graduate
As young adults across the county are completing their diplomas over the next few weeks, Eckerd Kids is launching a new weekly series honoring foster children and former foster children who have graduated this spring. Today we hear the inspirational story of MyKeal who had to juggle high school, a part-time job, and her responsibilities as a mother of two young children.
MyKeal Conyers is 18 years old and graduated with her high school diploma on June 3 from Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, FL. MyKeal is a single foster teen mom to two young children, ages 1 and 3. She spends her days attending school full time, working part time at her local Dunkin Donuts store and caring for her two children. Along her journey, Mykeal was told she couldn’t do it, but through her hard work and perseverance she has shown everyone that anything is possible. Mykeal will be the first child in three generations to graduate from her grandfather’s side of the family!
After being removed from her biological mother when she was four years old, MyKeal spent time with relatives, has been in and out of the foster care system and it was not until recently when she found the stability she needed with her current foster family she has lived with for over a year.
After graduation, MyKeal will be attending St. Petersburg College to finish her AA and then will continue her education at Florida A & M University in Tallahassee. She plans on majoring in criminal psychology and hopes to go into the air force upon her college graduation.
MyKeal says, “Going to school full time and working with two kids is very tiring, but it has all been worth it to get to this graduation day. It’s been a struggle not having my parents in my life, but you have to strive for the best, the pain will not always last.”
MyKeal’s current foster mom is a proud supporter of her hard work and says, “MyKeal kept her job, she worked hard and overcame the obstacles in her way. I couldn’t be more proud of her, she is wonderful!”