Zabiina’s Student Story

Meet Zabiina

Zabiina is a first generation college Black CPS alumni who grew up in Austin, a Westside neighborhood of Chicago. She graduated from a medical preparatory high school in Bronzeville in 2018 and immediately pursued her bachelors at state university in Georgia. She is currently a mother and her dream profession is in the medical field.

Navigating High School

From a young age Zabiina was dedicated to medicine. She chose to prepare for her career early by attending a medical high school. She took a bus and a train to school everyday, and although Freshman year was a little tough, Zabiina said things got better by the end of the year. “Freshman year is always the little roughest year, but near the end of freshman year, I feel like this when everything was established, one of my best friends, [who] is my son’s Godmother.” Her friends were important people felt she could trust and lean on for help. “It’s just us three, the big trio. But every day was like me and [my friend], we had the same class schedules. We were literally with each other all day.” Thanks to her friends and the rest of her school community, Zabiina loved her time in high school. “I bought a class ring and everything.”

During high school Zabiina said she knew “after high school it was always college. College was my number one. And then around senior year, it was pretty much about which college?”

“After high school it was always college. College was my number one. And then around senior year, it was pretty much about which college?”

Zabiina was a part of a non profit college preparatory program where she was connected with a mentor who supported her college choice decision. Zabiina aspired to go out of state for college and her mentor began to prepare her by addressing some of the challenges traveling for school brings. “[She asked] are you sure you want to go out of state? Do you have a support system?… Are you mentally, physically strong enough to be out of state and anything could happen? So she just wanted to make sure we were sure of your decision. But I was sure my decision.”

“[She asked] are you sure you want to go out of state? Do you have a support system?… Are you mentally, physically strong enough to be out of state and anything could happen? So she just wanted to make sure we were sure of your decision. But I was sure my decision.”

Zabiina’s College Journey

She decided to pursue her bachelors at a state university in Georgia. During her first couple of weeks in college, Zabiina mentioned that for herself as a more introverted person, it was a tough transition on an entire campus with new people. “I’m not a big people person… so it was really hard to get to know people.” She noted that the university’s faculty and other staff members, on the other hand, were really accessible and she found it easy to reach out to them for help.

During her first semester, Zabiina was exploring a new state, new classes and new friends but then she got some unexpected news. “I went to school already pregnant, and did not know it.” She was immediately connected to resources by her Residential Assistant (RA). The RA helped her to attend classes online and inform her of her different university plans if she decides to stay enrolled such as special class scheduling & family housing.

And although these accommodations were helpful, having to navigate pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness was extremely difficult while being a full time student. “Morning sickness really did it for me. Having a morning class and I can’t sleep unless [I get through my morning sickness.] So I’m going to my morning class half dead.” There were some days when Zabiina said she felt so sick that she couldn’t get out of bed. This made it challenging for her to still meet the strict academic expectations her professors had for her.

“Morning sickness really did it for me. Having a morning class and I can’t sleep unless [I get through my morning sickness.] So I’m going to my morning class half dead.”

After a tumultuous semester, Zabiina decided to raise her son closer to her family in Chicago. “I didn’t know if I was ready to raise my son out there by myself.” Looking back, she wished she had done things differently. “The support was there. I knew if I wanted to stay and I really wish to this day I wish I did stay. I’m like everything was really there.” Back in Chicago Zabiina’s resilience and determination to earn her college degree, pushed her to enroll in college again. “I tried online school after I came back home and then two more after I gave birth.” But being a full time mom of a baby AND being a student was overwhelming so for the last couple of year Zabiina has put school on pause. Her passion for school however, is still as strong as ever. “While I still have the pump of school in my blood, I need to get back into school.”

“While I still have the pump of school in my blood, I need to get back into school.”

Now that her son is older, Zabiina is planning on going back to school. She sees her current job to “help fund the future.” “It’s literally a warehouse job. It pays good, but that’s not my career. So it’s just, I’d rather do something that’s either have some knowledge in it or it’ll put me to where I want to be eventually. So the warehouse is not the place.” Her dream is to be a pediatrician! “I just love kids.”

What Worked for Zabiina

• Having a mentor who trusted her decision about going out of state: Since Zabiina is a first generation college student, going out of state for college is a big decision. Her mentor guided Zabiina to reflect on how important it would be to have strong support system on campus, given how far she’d be from her local support system. Thanks to the mentor’s advice, she was able to feel confident about her decision to pursue her college education outside of Chicago, even though the birth of her son forced her to eventually consider a different plan.
• School accommodations for her pregnancy: From the beginning, Zabiina felt that her school was very supportive to accommodate her pregnancy. She was able to attend classes online and her RA help informed her of changing her future class schedules and getting into a family housing dorm. “The support was there. It is within the school. Everybody around me, it was definitely there.”

Zabiina’s Aspiration for the field: For higher education institutions

1. Specific academic accommodations and understanding for people who are navigating pregnancy: Although Zabiina found immense support from her RA to persist in school, she was still faced with strict academic hurdles. Zabiina was able to attend class online but there were still final assignments that had to be completed in person. These in-person academic requirements were huge barriers especially with her pregnancy symptoms. “I feel like the staff can have an understanding. I failed my first semester because I wasn’t able to go physically to the classroom to drop off all paperwork…But some days I could not physically get out of bed. I even was vocal with that with the professors at the time.” Her university could have offered more academic accommodations to set her up for success, especially with the physical stress she was experiencing.
2. Childcare at colleges for current student parents: Now that Zabiina is planning on enrolling in school, she finds it difficult to enroll without access to childcare. “Childcare is expensive…If I’m on [a college] campus and my child is in the building across the street, it’ll give me a little ease. I know I could go see him if I needed to. So I feel like having better access to childcare if I were to go to school, having it nearby.”