PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (Sept. 27, 2023) – Mattie Jordan ’22 wasn’t a traditional student. She started her collegiate journey in 1987 as a business major and earned her bachelor’s degree in the fall of 2022 in health. In 35 years, Mattie experienced a series of setbacks that moved her goal farther from reach. Yet, no matter the obstacle, Mattie remained faithful and encouraged that one day she would graduate from Prairie View A&M University. And she did.
A Lifelong Ambition that Started on “The Hill”
Mattie grew up in Hempstead, Texas, only ten minutes from PVAMU’s campus. She cherishes her childhood memories of spending summers in the University’s National Youth Sports Program. “I always looked forward to attending Prairie View. I wanted to be an alumna since I was a little girl,” she said. Mattie was a senior at PVAMU when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. She had to make the hard decision to drop out of her program and find a job to support her new family. Mattie started working at Brenham State School and had her second child in 1996.
“I knew I needed to do something better to be at home with my kids, so in 1998, I went to work in Prairie View A&M University’s Procurement Department.” Mattie later transferred to roles in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education and the University’s Athletic department.
Navigating Unexpected Challenges
For the next five years, life was good. Mattie still dreamed of earning her degree, while her main focus was caring and providing for her children. In 2003, things took a turn as she was leaving work from a PVAMU basketball game. Mattie and her family were involved in a car accident that left her son paralyzed from the neck down. The wreck also seriously injured her daughter.
Mattie did her best to get her family back on track. But when her mother became ill in 2010, Mattie had to resign from her position to dedicate time to care for her son and the woman she loved most. During this time, Mattie leveraged the cosmetology license she attained from Royal Beauty Careers in 2006. She opened Mj23 Hair Studio in Cypress, Texas, and pursued a career as a hairstylist.
When her mom passed in 2016, she knew it was time to return to PVAMU. “My mom always wanted me to get my education because no one can take that from you,” recalls Mattie. She was rehired by the University that same year but didn’t immediately reenroll in a degree program.
Mattie watched and encouraged thousands of young men and women to walk across the stage and receive their degrees throughout her 20-year tenure at PVAMU. However, it was her daughter’s graduation from the Health and Kinesiology Program that pushed her to recommit to her studies. With a 30-year-old daughter and a 25-year-old son, Mattie said, “I knew it was my time.”
Fueled by health care disparities and her caretaking experience with her son, Mattie enrolled in PVAMU’s Health and Kinesiology Program in 2020. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic brought new struggles. Fortunately, Mattie didn’t have any issues securing funding. She was a PVAMU employee, which reduced her cost of attendance, and she used financial aid and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund to supplement the remaining expenses and fees.
Although funding wasn’t an issue, Mattie was later laid off from her job, and the shortage of nurses left her to care for her son while attending online classes. “I was trying to see how I would get it done. I wanted to make my dream come true, so I needed to finish what I started in 1987.”
Relying on Resilient Faith and Family
Subsequently losing her job, mother, and nurses to help care for her son, Mattie felt broken. “I had a breakdown,” she said. Despite it all, Mattie never lost her faith. “I prayed to God that if this was for me, let it be His will. I didn’t know how, but I knew God would make way for me.”
Mattie stayed focused and continued her enrollment, eventually attaining Honor Roll, where she remained for the next four years. “I was so proud of myself. I enjoyed the research in my health classes and got through it all with no regrets.”
As campus life returned, Mattie also engaged and delighted in student activities. She was a season pass holder and loved attending football and basketball games. In addition to being an advisor and member of the Belles of Prairie View, as well as various Health and Kinesiology organizations and helping with the homecoming parade, she sat on the College of Education graduation committee.
Mattie credits God for her success. “God made it so I could attend most courses online, care for my son and not miss a class. I felt like God heard my cry, and I knew my mom was looking down on me.”
For Every Setback, God has a Plan for a Bigger Comeback
Mattie was overjoyed when her degree was finally in her hand in December 2022. A 54-year-old mother of two, grandmother of three and the last of nine children, the little girl from Hempstead, Texas, had made it.
“There’s nothing like the feeling of receiving and hearing your name called to get your degree,” Mattie exclaimed. “I defeated all the obstacles that were in my way. It may have taken me 30 years to get my degree, but I got it.”
Mattie hopes her accomplishment will inspire more of her family to pursue higher education. “No matter how old you are, you can still get your education to better yourself,” she said.
While Mattie wishes she would’ve figured out how to balance motherhood, her course load and working when she first attended PVAMU to stay in school, she says that whatever God has for you is for you and that we can only work with what we have. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes; just ensure you finish the course. It never hurts to make a mistake or to start over. Stay positive, pray and have faith that you will succeed in your career. Never give up.”
She’s thankful for the family she found at PVAMU. Mattie believes the University is a good option for first-generation students because the instructors are attentive, and students can access valuable resources. “Students are surrounded by people who care that they get their education and are there whenever they need support. They make you feel at home, a home away from home. Prairie View A&M really does produce productive people.”
Mattie hopes to further her career and education in health care. She plans to apply to graduate school and has already received approval from the Texas Teacher program to become a special education teacher.
She aspires to eventually open a nursing agency for disabled patients that operates on a culture of kindness and positivity, one that “treats patients as people and motivates them to understand that nothing is impossible.”
By Whitney Stovall
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