Mother and son graduate together with Ph.D.s

motherson

Despite a rough start, a mother of four and one of her sons made it to the top together.

Dr. Vickie McBride had Maurice at the tender age of 13 followed by three more children. With the help of her own mother she continued to go to school and work. “As a teenager I continued my education. That was never an option,” explained Vickie. “I had to figure out how to work and how to parent and how to manage school all at the same time.”


By the time Maurice turned 16, with his mom balancing work and school, he started hanging with the wrong crowd and dropped out of high school. It took a stay at a juvenile probation facility for him to realize he had to turn his life around.

“I picked up the Bible and I started reading and I was like it all makes sense. I see how it actually comes to fruition. I see how I ended up here,” said Maurice.


After obtaining his GED and signing a record deal with Capital Records, Maurice decided to take his education further by taking online college courses and landed an undergrad degree and a graduate degree, becoming a professor at Paine College in Augusta, Ga.

Having a master’s degree wasn’t enough for the former high school dropout; he decided he wanted to take his education even further but wanted to do it as a team with his No. 1 supporter — his mom.

After some talks and coercing from her son, Vickie decided to take the Ph.D. journey with her son. Vickie graduated with her Ph.D. in K-12 education and Maurice in organizational management from Capella University.

“Never in a thousand, million, trillion years [did I expect to get my Ph.D.]. The thought of becoming a doctor anyone was far- fetched,” said Dr. Maurice McBride.

This uplifting story shows how one should never allow their past to predict their future, both mom and son faced early struggles but used them as a tool to do better.

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