“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” — Michelle Obama

READY…FIGHT…WIN

DALLAS — To put it more precisely, that Jacqueline Mercer’s daughter is about to earn her high school diploma essentially ranks right up there with the fact that she’s a newlywed.

“I’m already grinning ear to ear,” Mercer said of her daughter, Carolyn Baldwin, a senior at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

In Making Headline News’ annual Salute To Graduate Tributes, Mercer said she’s overwhelmingly impressed with the immeasurable strides her daughter has made in recent years, both in and outside the classroom.

Along with being a member of the National Society of High School Scholars, the varsity cheerleading squad, the Future Business Leaders of America (or FBLA), and the competitive dance team, Baldwin amassed a cumulative grade point average somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.7 and 4.0.

Though it is unclear if Northwood High will conduct official commencement exercises that are scheduled for June 12 — “We are still awaiting updates regarding the date and ceremony platform,” said Mercer, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic — the fact that Baldwin is about to achieve arguably her grandest milestone to date is all that matters, according her mother, a Mid-South-area Corporate America professional.

TRAIN HER UP

Next up for Baldwin is college this fall, although she remains undecided on where to enroll.

Mercer said her daughter has “high interest” in Winston State University in Winston Salem, North Carolina, although she has garnered acceptance letters from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, and Campbell University.

Baldwin’s mother is a 1999 graduate of NCA&T.

Regardless of which school Baldwin selects, amongst the things about which Mercer is enraptured is how her daughter has steadfastly overcome a slew of obstacles.

“Geesh, I’ll try to put it words as best as I can,” Mercer explained. “I am proud of Carolyn’s ability to persevere. Carolyn stems from a single parent home, which has been one of my biggest disappointments in life. She deserved a world with two attentive and supporting parents.

“I came to Memphis to pursue my accounting career directly after college,” Mercer continued. “After a year of living in Memphis, I courted a guy for a couple of years and became pregnant during that courtship. It was pretty clear from the start of the pregnancy that I would be on my own raising her.”

As if being raised in a single parent home wasn’t a big enough hurdle for which Baldwin was left to clear, Mercer described life in Memphis for her daughter as downright “challenging,” a life-altering discovery that had ultimately given way to an immediate change.

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“With a single mother that worked all the time, where her mother’s free time was often spent outside the home, pressures from school, classmates, and social media influences to fit in, Carolyn needed a change of environment to truly thrive,” Mercer recalled.

So much, in fact, that heading into Baldwin’s junior year, Mercer and her family made a “joint decision” for her daughter to finish high school in her native establishment of North Carolina.

For Baldwin, it seemed a change in scenery was paramount, particularly for her spiritual and natural growth. Never mind the periodic barriers that customarily arise upon relocating to a new town.

“At first, it was a major adjustment for Carolyn.  She was a new student, at a new school, in a new town, much different from Memphis,” Mercer said. “The move also placed her in an environment where she was now living with her grandparents, where rules were stricter and easily enforceable with two retirees at home. After the first semester there, Carolyn made a solid group of friends and developed an even stronger bond with her grandfather, who filled a void that was missing from her life for several years.”

All things considered, Mercer is especially proud of the poise and stick-to-itiveness Baldwin exemplified since bolting Tennessee for North Carolina.

Now she’s just weeks away from taking yet another massive step toward her destiny.

“I am most proud of her for persevering,” said, Mercer, praising her daughter’s dedication to refocus her focus after leaving Memphis. “Most teenagers I know wouldn’t take the leap of faith she did. She knew there were better things on the other side of the fence, and she was willing to take that leap. She persevered leaving everything she knew and what she was comfortable with to moving in an environment with less pressures and more support.

“She was born into a dynamic so much different that I was, and I didn’t have the tools to nurture that,” Mercer continued. “I grew up with both parents, in a small town where my cousins were my best friends and social media was nonexistent.  I had no idea how to handle the pressures she was and still faces.  Carolyn perseveres and adjusts her mindset to focus on what is in front of her, not behind her.”

Much to Baldwin’s delight, she passed such a crucial — and yet sometimes stormy — chapter of her life in flying colors.

In and outside of the classroom.

Especially in the classroom.

“With the adjustments, Carolyn’s grades have not declined,” Mercer said. “Because different states have different requirements, Carolyn had to take extra courses or repeat courses that she took in Memphis to graduate on time.  She did this with little complaints.  She just knew it was what she had to do.”

FRESH START  

Mission accomplished for this native Memphian, whose best and brightest days are well ahead of her.

Given how she has diligently weathered the relocation process in her recent years, Baldwin appears destined to tackle whatever obstacles that will surface to challenge her faith.

“When I asked Carolyn if she was still interested in pursuing nursing, knowing what nurses are currently facing with the (COVID-19) pandemic, her response was, ‘Mom yes, it’s part of what we do,’” Mercer said.

Yep. Like mother, like daughter.

Always up for a monumental challenge.

MAKING HEADLINE NEWS SALUTES CAROLYN BALDWIN:

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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to [email protected] or to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.