JTC 24: Heart First, Head Second

When Susan Walls became a mother her freshman year at the University of Mississippi, she knew the odds were stacked against her. Student mothers face many hurdles to complete their degrees.

Walls was also quite familiar with defying the odds: The Houlka native was a first-generation student from a single-parent household in rural Mississippi, and she was attending the state's flagship university.

Walls, an elementary education major, was among 80 students selected for the Luckyday Scholars Program, which provides scholarships and a supportive community to incoming students.

"My stepmom was supportive of my college dreams, but alone, she couldn't get me there," Walls said. "I had to get there, though. For my father."

When she was 12 years old, Walls lost her father to cancer after a three-year battle.

"My father always wanted me to have more than he had," she said. "He wanted me to go to college and be successful."

So, Walls went to work. Since the age of 16, she has held a job. In high school, Walls worked double shifts on weekends while earning straight A's and taking the ACT five times to raise her scores. While helping her mom pay the bills, she became her class' salutatorian.

Walls credits her high school English teacher, Melinda Kopp, for helping her to see her own potential and apply to numerous scholarships.

Her upward trajectory seemed certain until fall of 2019, when Walls saw positive results on a test she had not anticipated taking: a pregnancy test.

"I knew my life was changing, but I also knew I would do what I had to do to graduate," she said. "When your parent dies, you don't want to disappoint them.

"And now I was becoming a parent myself. I didn't want to disappoint my child."

Her daughter, Kailani "Lani," was born in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Walls took one semester off school.

"Plenty of people assumed I wouldn't go back, that now I couldn't finish," she said. "I felt the opposite. My priorities changed; I knew I had to do what was best for my daughter."

It was Lani who helped Walls solidify her major.

I know that as a parent, it hurts when you can't give your child what they deserve. Parents deserve help and empathy, not judgement."

"Once I had her, it was clear," she said. "I want to support children and be for them the person I needed."

The universally online environment of the pandemic helped Walls make the transition back to school. Back in Houlka, her mother and her twin sister helped watch Lani while she attended classes and worked weekends.

When she came back to Ole Miss, she found personal champions on campus.

"Dr. Patrick Perry, Dr. Ethel Scurlock and Senora Miller Logan were awesome mentors," Walls said. "After I had Lani, they helped me reinstate my scholarship and continued to check in and make sure I was on track."

Walls also credits professors from the School of Education with her continued success.

"Katie Naron told me I was meant to be a teacher, and as if to prove it, she bought my license tests; they're 100-something-dollars apiece," Walls said. "She didn't have to do it, but she got a grant to help me to pay for that test. She bought me clothes for student teaching.

"Mrs. Naron, Dr. Gilbert, Dr. Hurt and others bought my child Christmas presents. They and my clinical instructor, Ashley Holcomb, have been my backbone when researching jobs, building a resume, practicing for interviews."

Walls said these professors and Kopp remind her of the kind of teacher she wants to be.

"They show me that teaching is heart first, head second," she said. "You have to really see people and build relationships with them. A child is going to remember the teacher who not only cared about the worksheets or content area, but who loved them enough to give them grace."

Walls emulated her former teachers and professors in the second-grade classroom at Lafayette Elementary School where she student taught in fall 2023. She brought cupcakes to class for kids whose families couldn't afford it. For Valentine's Day, she wrote things she appreciated about each of her students, highlighting their unique strengths.

Walls said that becoming a parent made her a better student teacher and has prepared her for what is to come as she makes her way to Pierce Street Elementary in Tupelo, where she will teach fourth-grade math.

"I'm able to have grace and compassion with parents," she said. "I know that as a parent, it hurts when you can't give your child what they deserve. Parents deserve help and empathy, not judgement."

Naron relays that Walls' strength lies "not just her determination to beat the odds, but her determination to do it well with high standards for herself. She has a strong desire to learn, leans in during coachable moments and has the wonder of an eager student."

Walls is excited for the next chapter.

"When people pour into you, it makes you believe you're worth it, that you have potential that others can see," she said. "Now I get to do that for others.

"Success for me is being able to go home at the end of the day knowing I made somebody feel something. I want students to remember me as 'Ms. Susan, my fourth-grade teacher, who always thought I could do it.'"

"But first, I can't wait for my daughter to see me walk across that stage."

See more photos from Susan Walls' Journey to Commencement