Getting a good grade on a college-level psychology exam is an accomplishment. Giving birth to a baby is also quite an accomplishment.
When you combine the two — taking a psychology exam while giving birth — that goes beyond “accomplishment” and into superhero territory.
That is exactly what one determined young woman in Macon, Georgia, did this month. During a grueling 20-hour labor, the 21-year-old college student and single mom, Tommitrise Collins, completed a psychology exam, eventually earning a “B” on the test — and a new daughter, Tyler Elise.
“It took me 4-5 hours after the opening of the test to try to put the pain to the side and do it so I wouldn’t have to do it later and I could enjoy my newborn,” Collins told Fox 5 Atlanta of her feat.
“I want my child to live comfortably. I want to show young people that just because I am considered a young mother doesn’t mean I have to be considered a bad mother.”
“This story sort of makes me feel ashamed!” laughed one New York City mother of two. “I screeched and complained through my whole delivery — especially the first one, which was only nine hours long,” she told LifeZette. “I cursed my husband, and even yelled at the nurses once, during a contraction. To take an exam while giving birth? For me — unthinkable. I could barely chew on crushed ice!”
Collins holds an impressive 3.6 GPA at Middle Georgia State University, and she plans to graduate in December 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She also intends to continue her pursuit of excellence as she determines her own future — through hard work and persistence.
“My daughter is my life now, and the way I look at it is, she will always have me to depend on, so my goals will not be put on hold,” she told Fox5Atlanta.com.
Collins may have worried her labor and delivery team a bit with her laser-like focus on her studies.
“Truthfully, it depends on an individual’s pain tolerance, as well as a whole host of other factors. That’s (what) determines whether you can do something like she did,” said a labor and delivery nurse at Coliseum Medical Center, where Collins gave birth.
“A nurse’s job is to help with the birth and to take care of the patient, and obviously a patient concentrating on an exam makes that more difficult,” said the nurse. “Even the way one would sit when taking a test could be problematic for those trying to care for the mother and baby.”
Collins had at least one cheerleader during her “birth and books” experience. Shanell Brinkley-Chapman posted a picture of her focused sister, which quickly went viral.
“This is what you call ‘Strong Priorities,’” she posted under the photo. “Contractions 3 minutes apart and still takes her psychology test! You are going to be a great mom, baby sis,” she wrote.
Collins already knows how she wants to live, and what she wants to share through her own journey.
“I don’t want to just barely make it by,” she told Fox5Atlanta.com. “I want my child to live comfortably, and I want to show young people that just because I am considered a young mother doesn’t mean I have to be considered a bad mother.”