Dr. Tererai Trent — A dream combined with an education makes you unstoppable

Tererai grew up in a tiny village in Zimbabwe during the war. By the age of 18, she had an abusive husband and four children. What she didn’t have was an education, though. But she’d got dreams: go to the US, get a bachelor’s degree, get a master’s degree and get a PhD. Sounds impossible for a woman in her situation, right?

It took her 8 years to get her high school diploma. Through a scholarship, she managed to get her family on a flight to the US and started studying at a university. While working on her dream, she had 5 children to take care of, 3 jobs to keep the family afloat and still that 1 abusive husband. Her kids were hungry and cold. At times they gathered food from trash cans.

But that endless hunger for achieving her dream and creating a better life for her and her children kept her going. After 11 years, she finally received her PhD. Naturally, she became an activist for women’s education and health.

If you’ve got time, watch her interview (link below). I promise it will change the way you think about your life and what you think you can achieve. It left me feeling hopeful that anything is possible if you’re willing to do the work, but also ashamed about my pettiness.

3 things I learned from her story:

- Give a woman an education and you give her the world.
- Limiting circumstances are an illusion. The only thing that’s stopping me is not thinking big enough for myself.
- Stay hungry!

Happy Women’s Day! Remember, we can do hard things!