Joy Onuorah

When Latonya Young received an Uber request to pick and drop a passenger by the name of Kevin Esch, she had no idea it was her path to achieving a lifelong goal. As an Uber driver, she was in the habit of talking with her passengers to make them feel easy and enjoy the ride.

It happened that during the talk, the two exchanged a lot about themselves, with Esch revealing his divorce and Latonya disclosing that she had dropped out of school and needed to rejoin but was short of money.

The mother of three, who is 43 years old now, dropped out of school at age 16 when she gave birth to her now 26-year-old son, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Without informing her, Esch made the pending fee balance of $700 (N286,930), allowing Latonya to re-enrol at the Georgia State University.

“I’m proud of her. She’s done an amazing job to make it this far. Through the pandemic, through virtual schooling, through everything. It’s amazing.” Latonya, who has since graduated with a bachelor of science in criminal justice, is forever grateful to the proverbial Good Samaritan who made the seemingly impossible possible for her.

She said: “He was a big part of my journey. I don’t think I’d be here if I wouldn’t have met him. I wouldn’t have had this happen.”

The lady expressed her joy, calling it the best feeling in the world and one she cannot explain because she never envisioned herself being where she currently is.

Soon after her graduation, Latonya released a book titled “From Broken to Blessed” set to be released in two weeks. She said that her dream is to become a federal probation officer, adding: “I pray to God that I get a good job opportunity that pays well so I can pay my loans and take care of my child. Whoever has a good-paying job for me, that’s the goal.” Latonya’s story is testimony that having children is not the end of pursuing some dreams, like education.