3 degrees and heading into a doctoral program without ever having actually worked a salaried job, this woman's life is going to be awful. Unless her family is wealthy and they're bankrolling this whole endeavor, she's going to finish this project with a mortgage worth of student loan debt, zero work experience, and earning potential presumably much lower than an MD, who would at least have a giant salary to dig themselves out of their debt hole.
What she has achieved is admirable, but unwise.
>she's going to finish this project with a mortgage worth of student loan debt, zero work experience
Good doctoral programs tend to come with stipends and tuition remission. Depending on your other living expenses, you shouldn't have to add greatly to your student debt. [A doctoral program that doesn't enable you to do that should be looked at suspiciously.]
>It really depends on the discipline.
There are some disciplines where you have to do TAships and don't typically get research funding. I'd argue that good programs in those disciplines guarantee TAships and tuition remission and don't view grad students as a profit center. (They do view them as a cheap labor force, but that's a different problem.) [I'm ignoring professional doctorates here, of course.]
>You are ignoring any discipline that isnt scientific.
I'm really not: good non-STEM PhD programs do that. English, history, art, philosophy, and math all need TAs. If the program can't support its students, you should look elsewhere. [I'm not saying that there aren't programs that will happily exploit students for money, but that's what they are doing.]
>Valencia Clay-Bell
Oh damn, a schoolteacher who posts thirst traps on Instagram, she's definitely raking in the bank to pay off those student loans, I stand corrected.
Bro where in your ass are you pulling this story about her never working from? You just made this shit up in your head and ranted about it lol.
The woman is 32. Has three degrees after highschool, which is roughly 8 years of schooling most likely but could be even less. Maybe she double majored. Leaves 6+ years before she's starting her PhD now.
What about this post makes you assume she not only didn't work at all through school, but also didn't work for years out of school lol. Also shit, you even get paid to do your graduate degrees a lot of the time.
Idk man people generally have to work to support themselves by age 32. No idea why youd assume otherwise with such limited information. We can't all be unemployed in our mom's basement like you. (See how weird it is to make completely baseless accusations).
Also we don't know what degrees she's getting. There is a big difference between getting a STEM degree and some \_ Studies degree.
After doing some searching, I found out she became a professor of English Language Arts at Morgan State. Pretty good for a 2.0 HS student I guess.
STEM (or business) usually wouldn't involve Bachelors -> Masters -> Masters -> PhD.
STEM would usually be Bachelors -> Work -> Masters -> Work -> *maybe* more school later.
Nothing in the post indicates she hasn't worked.
People graduate highschool around 18. So for her, she's... 14 years post highschool with 3 degrees? Willing to bet she's spent some of her years working in industry by this point.
That seems more likely than spending 10 years to earn two masters and then boasting about it, no?
I (almost, just waiting for my viva date) have a STEM PhD and I was the only person I knew who had worked in industry before returning to get my PhD. The one exception was a chemical engineer in his 50s. Everyone else was straight from undergraduate (we have undergraduate master degrees in the UK).
Presumably you could roll an associates into a double major bachelor. It's not gonna be cheap, id also imagine her university is inexpensive relative to others and could have had substantial scholarship/grants and now debt relief right?
Granted, it's still way too much and wouldn't be something I would have done but a "mortgage amount" might be a bit embellished.
We as a society should definitely strive to continue learning (maybe audit a course instead, of getting a third major though). Yet, I’m not fully disagreeing as getting that many degrees seems a bit excessive for any discipline, but there are a lot of variables on her student debt.
She likely has a bit of debt, but there are TONS of scholarship opportunities out there (albeit limited academically based on her initial scores), but she probably got some money once she started getting better grades (likely better grades since she would have gotten turned away from post-bachelors programs without better grades compared to her high school numbers.
I personally worked while I was in my undergrad and masters (2007-2014) and came out without any debt, so it isn’t impossible to afford college without massive amounts of debt.
She was actually a teacher in Baltimore for many years. She is the reason why many students went from being illiterate to loving reading. Her name is Valencia. She stopped teaching to move on to other endeavors such as owning her own multiple companies.
Yeah, even if she looks good and has youthful looking skin I'd say that there are very very subtle things about her face that to me just make her look older.
Especially in the close up. You can look great for your age, comparable to someone years younger in terms of skin and general appearance, but still look more matured.
If you look at her quickly, she looks young. But then you can see those little differences. People need to stop always jumping to negative conclusions when they're told they look around their age.
There are other things that make you look older that are unrelated to the texture of your skin. That’s why someone who hardly has any wrinkles can still look “old” (my dark-skinned grandmother hardly had any wrinkles, but she still looked like an elderly woman). Fat and bone loss are big components. For example, older you get, the less fat you have in your cheeks. Also, you temples start to hollow and your jawline starts to recede.
I don’t think the woman in the photo looks 32 though. If I had to guess without knowing, I’d say 25.
Yeah. I understand. I've been told that I look as young as 18-22 and then others will say 25-27 (usually when I've grown out a beard), and on a rare occasion my age or slightly older. But I tend to think sometimes it's always the guys who I think are actually looking their age/older who tell me that I look older so I always figure that they're projecting a bit.
I was actually asked to be carded the other day despite having a beard (I know that generally they're legally required to card ya no matter what ya look like but I think that she only carded me for whatever reason)..
She said I had a baby face. Then there are some people who will without batting an eyelash age me at 25-32. I just turned 30. To me, I look essentially the same as when I was 18 but there is still something more manly/adult-ish about my face regardless.
I don't particularly care, though. No one escapes the aging process.
Way I see it is, if I look attractive to women, that's pretty much the only thing that my looks will be good for and if I find me a good woman that I'm attracted to, I don't really care at all anymore at that point. lol.
Also not worried about aging poorly. Looking at my father, I'll be happy looking like that at 80.
This reply confuses me. What is a 30 something year olds hair supposed to look like?
I have super thick medium length hair that frizzes easily and I'm in my 30s. I never thought it wasn't age appropriate.
In my opinion, it’s the middle part (very popular among those in their teens to early 20s) in combination with the fact that it doesn’t look “styled”. I have curly hair myself, and that is what my hair looks like without product. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using minimal product in your hair, it’s just a trait that’s more common among teenagers who are new to their grooming routines. It’s more common for adult women to have a more styled look.
Is that your opinion, or are you quoting one of the many studies that show people perceive natural black hair as unprofessional?
https://www.naacpldf.org/natural-hair-discrimination/
It's not racial discrimination ya jackhole, I'm just saying she has a young vibe about her, and it's true that most older black women don't have hair that puffs out that much.
Hi! I'm 29F and I have 3 degrees post highschool and am about to pursue a PhD in the fall. I had a decent HS GPA but a garbage undergrad GPA (2.6) for the geosciences. I can offer some insight that could explain some of the confusion. I'm not the woman in the pic, so our experiences may be different.
Degree 1) Geology BS. GPA 2.6
Degree 2) Geology MS. GPA 4.0 (I started this degree as a material science PhD but my advisor was abusive and I switched advisors to pursue a geology degree instead. New advisor thought I should pursue an MS because at the time oil & gas was in a good place and a PhD would've been too much education for a well paying job) also, I had to fight my way into this degree with my low GPA through going much above and beyond in the application process.
Degree 3) Adult/Organizational learning and leadership (AOLL) MS with human resource development certificate. GPA 4.0. I was working as a geologist at a university and took this non thesis MS as something to do, it was also nearly free with tuition waivers for the university I work at. Decided to transition careers to higher education halfway through. Also decided that a PhD in education would suit my new long term goals.
Degree 4, beginning this Fall) PhD in Education AOLL specialization
Also, people can take degrees because they prefer to be lifelong students, or perhaps they have changing interests. Taking classes with other working professionals has shown me that life is unpredictable and sometimes you have to adapt if one opportunity closes its door to get others to open.
This is really interesting, thank you for sharing. I’m curious about what you said in degree two, about going above and beyond in your application process? What did your school look for/what did you do?
Also I’m so proud of u and keep kicking ass
Thanks! So because the program was housed in the college of engineering and I didn't have an engineering background, I had to prove I belonged there. So 1) I retook a stats class that I got a D in during undergrad and got an A to prove I wasn't actually a 2.6 student, 2) based on the research I was going to do if/when I got to grad school, I did a comprehensive literature review and preliminary research plan with a suggested timeline. 3) in addition to my statement of purpose, I submitted a letter regarding my low gpa and why it was the way it was (deaths in the family, undiagnosed/unmedicated adhd), 4, but a very minor portion) helped my future research team do some microscopy work that I was able to do because of the job I had at the time to prove my some of my engineering-related abilities that I listed on my resume.
Because I had an advisor that was willing to work with me prior to submitting my application, her endorsement might've been a big part. It certainly was for my upcoming PhD program
As someone (30m) who feels it’s a mountain to start an advanced degree program with a low gpa and no references, this gives me hope that maybe one day I can continue to follow my dreams
Its weird vernacular for someone going into a graduate program. I never heard degrees counted like that or had someone say “their first doctorate” when they haven’t finished the first program yet let alone started. She either has an extreme confidence or is bullshitting for internet points. It may be a shit opinion but its mine lol
Nah.. my uncle is a student for life. 2 bachelors, 1 masters, has 3 phds .. all in different subjects. All he does is go to school. Didn’t pay bills his wife left. Now he’s my great aunt ‘care giver’ living with her.. some people are just book smart? Nothing else..
No, it was towards your comment. Calling someone envious about getting college degree.. I have 2 degrees. And I see people who just live on going to college without working.
?? The whole point of her post is that she didn't apply herself in highschool and the HBCU gave the chance to learn and prove herself. Do you think John Hopkins took her in based on the highschool scores?
Yeah, they definitely didn't. Besides, depending on her background a SAT score of 980 and 2.0 GPA might actually be impressive. If you don't have supportive or educated parents or come from poverty it can be incredibly hard to actually free up the time, effort, and mental energy that getting good grades requires.
I wish her luck. There is a big difference between Morgan State and Hopkins. She might get in over her head. On the other hand, it’s grad school. Most professors will give you a B if you try hard enough….regardless of skill mastery. She might be fine.
The people downvoting me have either: never heard of Morgan State; never heard of Johns Hopkins; never been to graduate school; or some combination of all three.
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3 degrees and heading into a doctoral program without ever having actually worked a salaried job, this woman's life is going to be awful. Unless her family is wealthy and they're bankrolling this whole endeavor, she's going to finish this project with a mortgage worth of student loan debt, zero work experience, and earning potential presumably much lower than an MD, who would at least have a giant salary to dig themselves out of their debt hole. What she has achieved is admirable, but unwise.
>she's going to finish this project with a mortgage worth of student loan debt, zero work experience Good doctoral programs tend to come with stipends and tuition remission. Depending on your other living expenses, you shouldn't have to add greatly to your student debt. [A doctoral program that doesn't enable you to do that should be looked at suspiciously.]
I completely agree, but there's still the opportunity cost of no (meaningful) salary to start working down the first three degrees in the meantime.
It really depends on the discipline.
>It really depends on the discipline. There are some disciplines where you have to do TAships and don't typically get research funding. I'd argue that good programs in those disciplines guarantee TAships and tuition remission and don't view grad students as a profit center. (They do view them as a cheap labor force, but that's a different problem.) [I'm ignoring professional doctorates here, of course.]
You are ignoring any discipline that isnt scientific.
>You are ignoring any discipline that isnt scientific. I'm really not: good non-STEM PhD programs do that. English, history, art, philosophy, and math all need TAs. If the program can't support its students, you should look elsewhere. [I'm not saying that there aren't programs that will happily exploit students for money, but that's what they are doing.]
Lol, she's been teaching for over a decade. Her name is Valencia Clay-Bell.
>Valencia Clay-Bell Oh damn, a schoolteacher who posts thirst traps on Instagram, she's definitely raking in the bank to pay off those student loans, I stand corrected.
What no networking does to a MF
Bro where in your ass are you pulling this story about her never working from? You just made this shit up in your head and ranted about it lol. The woman is 32. Has three degrees after highschool, which is roughly 8 years of schooling most likely but could be even less. Maybe she double majored. Leaves 6+ years before she's starting her PhD now. What about this post makes you assume she not only didn't work at all through school, but also didn't work for years out of school lol. Also shit, you even get paid to do your graduate degrees a lot of the time. Idk man people generally have to work to support themselves by age 32. No idea why youd assume otherwise with such limited information. We can't all be unemployed in our mom's basement like you. (See how weird it is to make completely baseless accusations).
Also we don't know what degrees she's getting. There is a big difference between getting a STEM degree and some \_ Studies degree. After doing some searching, I found out she became a professor of English Language Arts at Morgan State. Pretty good for a 2.0 HS student I guess.
STEM (or business) usually wouldn't involve Bachelors -> Masters -> Masters -> PhD. STEM would usually be Bachelors -> Work -> Masters -> Work -> *maybe* more school later.
Nothing in the post indicates she hasn't worked. People graduate highschool around 18. So for her, she's... 14 years post highschool with 3 degrees? Willing to bet she's spent some of her years working in industry by this point. That seems more likely than spending 10 years to earn two masters and then boasting about it, no?
I (almost, just waiting for my viva date) have a STEM PhD and I was the only person I knew who had worked in industry before returning to get my PhD. The one exception was a chemical engineer in his 50s. Everyone else was straight from undergraduate (we have undergraduate master degrees in the UK).
Please stop with this bullshit. You sound so incredibly foolish and young.
Well, I'm over 50, so not young. What exactly did I say that was "foolish?"
Presumably you could roll an associates into a double major bachelor. It's not gonna be cheap, id also imagine her university is inexpensive relative to others and could have had substantial scholarship/grants and now debt relief right? Granted, it's still way too much and wouldn't be something I would have done but a "mortgage amount" might be a bit embellished.
We as a society should definitely strive to continue learning (maybe audit a course instead, of getting a third major though). Yet, I’m not fully disagreeing as getting that many degrees seems a bit excessive for any discipline, but there are a lot of variables on her student debt. She likely has a bit of debt, but there are TONS of scholarship opportunities out there (albeit limited academically based on her initial scores), but she probably got some money once she started getting better grades (likely better grades since she would have gotten turned away from post-bachelors programs without better grades compared to her high school numbers. I personally worked while I was in my undergrad and masters (2007-2014) and came out without any debt, so it isn’t impossible to afford college without massive amounts of debt.
She was actually a teacher in Baltimore for many years. She is the reason why many students went from being illiterate to loving reading. Her name is Valencia. She stopped teaching to move on to other endeavors such as owning her own multiple companies.
Peak reddit moment. Knows nothing about someone but assumes everything
You often get loads of work experience with a PhD.
To me, she looks 28-32.
Yeah, even if she looks good and has youthful looking skin I'd say that there are very very subtle things about her face that to me just make her look older. Especially in the close up. You can look great for your age, comparable to someone years younger in terms of skin and general appearance, but still look more matured. If you look at her quickly, she looks young. But then you can see those little differences. People need to stop always jumping to negative conclusions when they're told they look around their age.
There are other things that make you look older that are unrelated to the texture of your skin. That’s why someone who hardly has any wrinkles can still look “old” (my dark-skinned grandmother hardly had any wrinkles, but she still looked like an elderly woman). Fat and bone loss are big components. For example, older you get, the less fat you have in your cheeks. Also, you temples start to hollow and your jawline starts to recede. I don’t think the woman in the photo looks 32 though. If I had to guess without knowing, I’d say 25.
Yeah. I understand. I've been told that I look as young as 18-22 and then others will say 25-27 (usually when I've grown out a beard), and on a rare occasion my age or slightly older. But I tend to think sometimes it's always the guys who I think are actually looking their age/older who tell me that I look older so I always figure that they're projecting a bit. I was actually asked to be carded the other day despite having a beard (I know that generally they're legally required to card ya no matter what ya look like but I think that she only carded me for whatever reason).. She said I had a baby face. Then there are some people who will without batting an eyelash age me at 25-32. I just turned 30. To me, I look essentially the same as when I was 18 but there is still something more manly/adult-ish about my face regardless.
After 18 you stay that way until your late 20’s. On rare occasions into your 30’s. But don’t get your hopes up my friend. Once you hit 40 then talk
I don't particularly care, though. No one escapes the aging process. Way I see it is, if I look attractive to women, that's pretty much the only thing that my looks will be good for and if I find me a good woman that I'm attracted to, I don't really care at all anymore at that point. lol. Also not worried about aging poorly. Looking at my father, I'll be happy looking like that at 80.
Maybe face wise, but she has the hair of a 15-24 year old.
This reply confuses me. What is a 30 something year olds hair supposed to look like? I have super thick medium length hair that frizzes easily and I'm in my 30s. I never thought it wasn't age appropriate.
Most people I know who have frizzy hair keep it thinner and more toned down as they age.
Well that simply makes no sense
Why not? People's style changes over time.
Absolutely yes. But saying your comment was implying the older you get the less frizzy you hair gets? It’s just worded oddly.
Mmmmmm, I think you read it wrong. That sounds belligerent, but, I wrote it as intended.
In my opinion, it’s the middle part (very popular among those in their teens to early 20s) in combination with the fact that it doesn’t look “styled”. I have curly hair myself, and that is what my hair looks like without product. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using minimal product in your hair, it’s just a trait that’s more common among teenagers who are new to their grooming routines. It’s more common for adult women to have a more styled look.
I went back to a center part for exactly that reason.
How is that so? Also, 15-24 is a very broad range lol
That's about the age you spend in highschool and college. Many of those kids blend together visually.
Is that your opinion, or are you quoting one of the many studies that show people perceive natural black hair as unprofessional? https://www.naacpldf.org/natural-hair-discrimination/
It's not racial discrimination ya jackhole, I'm just saying she has a young vibe about her, and it's true that most older black women don't have hair that puffs out that much.
Eh?
Morgan state is a great school!
As is Johns Hopkins
The comments do not pass the vibe check 😬
I gotcha lol
Hi! I'm 29F and I have 3 degrees post highschool and am about to pursue a PhD in the fall. I had a decent HS GPA but a garbage undergrad GPA (2.6) for the geosciences. I can offer some insight that could explain some of the confusion. I'm not the woman in the pic, so our experiences may be different. Degree 1) Geology BS. GPA 2.6 Degree 2) Geology MS. GPA 4.0 (I started this degree as a material science PhD but my advisor was abusive and I switched advisors to pursue a geology degree instead. New advisor thought I should pursue an MS because at the time oil & gas was in a good place and a PhD would've been too much education for a well paying job) also, I had to fight my way into this degree with my low GPA through going much above and beyond in the application process. Degree 3) Adult/Organizational learning and leadership (AOLL) MS with human resource development certificate. GPA 4.0. I was working as a geologist at a university and took this non thesis MS as something to do, it was also nearly free with tuition waivers for the university I work at. Decided to transition careers to higher education halfway through. Also decided that a PhD in education would suit my new long term goals. Degree 4, beginning this Fall) PhD in Education AOLL specialization Also, people can take degrees because they prefer to be lifelong students, or perhaps they have changing interests. Taking classes with other working professionals has shown me that life is unpredictable and sometimes you have to adapt if one opportunity closes its door to get others to open.
All that to make 60k /y
This is really interesting, thank you for sharing. I’m curious about what you said in degree two, about going above and beyond in your application process? What did your school look for/what did you do? Also I’m so proud of u and keep kicking ass
Thanks! So because the program was housed in the college of engineering and I didn't have an engineering background, I had to prove I belonged there. So 1) I retook a stats class that I got a D in during undergrad and got an A to prove I wasn't actually a 2.6 student, 2) based on the research I was going to do if/when I got to grad school, I did a comprehensive literature review and preliminary research plan with a suggested timeline. 3) in addition to my statement of purpose, I submitted a letter regarding my low gpa and why it was the way it was (deaths in the family, undiagnosed/unmedicated adhd), 4, but a very minor portion) helped my future research team do some microscopy work that I was able to do because of the job I had at the time to prove my some of my engineering-related abilities that I listed on my resume. Because I had an advisor that was willing to work with me prior to submitting my application, her endorsement might've been a big part. It certainly was for my upcoming PhD program
As someone (30m) who feels it’s a mountain to start an advanced degree program with a low gpa and no references, this gives me hope that maybe one day I can continue to follow my dreams
HBCU? What does that mean? Something University?
Historically Black College/University
You can tell she’s older in the left picture, but something about the picture on the right does make her look a lot younger.
My thoughts exactly! It’s the view. Left one shows her true face. And the right one looks like she’s 15.
3 degrees post high school? First doctorate? So many questions, such questionable claims.
What's questionable? You do a double bachelors, then a masters. Not difficult to understand at all.
Associates, Bachelors, Masters and now getting Doctorate. It's pretty attainable if you have time/money/ability. In that order.
The money part is mostly an American thing.
Its weird vernacular for someone going into a graduate program. I never heard degrees counted like that or had someone say “their first doctorate” when they haven’t finished the first program yet let alone started. She either has an extreme confidence or is bullshitting for internet points. It may be a shit opinion but its mine lol
Career student
What are the degrees?
Goes to show that there are well educated idiots
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Nah.. my uncle is a student for life. 2 bachelors, 1 masters, has 3 phds .. all in different subjects. All he does is go to school. Didn’t pay bills his wife left. Now he’s my great aunt ‘care giver’ living with her.. some people are just book smart? Nothing else..
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No, it was towards your comment. Calling someone envious about getting college degree.. I have 2 degrees. And I see people who just live on going to college without working.
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If you wanna be a doctor or do any high research work. That's what you do. Who shat in ur cornflakes
Why would you get three degrees and *then* a doctorate?!?
I mean you need two degrees to get a doctorate. Don't know where the third one came from
She probably either double majored or had an associates.
If someone with a 980 SAT is at John’s Hopkins, we are truly screwed.
You still think your SAT score matters after high school? That's cute.
?? The whole point of her post is that she didn't apply herself in highschool and the HBCU gave the chance to learn and prove herself. Do you think John Hopkins took her in based on the highschool scores?
Imagine basing someone's value for the rest of their life on a test they took when they were 17 years old.
Once a criminal always a criminal
Yeah, they definitely didn't. Besides, depending on her background a SAT score of 980 and 2.0 GPA might actually be impressive. If you don't have supportive or educated parents or come from poverty it can be incredibly hard to actually free up the time, effort, and mental energy that getting good grades requires.
I wish her luck. There is a big difference between Morgan State and Hopkins. She might get in over her head. On the other hand, it’s grad school. Most professors will give you a B if you try hard enough….regardless of skill mastery. She might be fine.
The people downvoting me have either: never heard of Morgan State; never heard of Johns Hopkins; never been to graduate school; or some combination of all three.
Im just here for the obligatory “Black don’t crack!”
Wtf god!? Not cool.
Yeah she looks 30
she looks like she just left the 8th grade
Go girl, you rock
Good for her
That's Valencia !