Graduation feature: Determined, single, working Hammond mother defies statistics

As a working, single mother, Skye Holman acknowledges, "Statistically, I'm not supposed to make it."

But statistics underestimate the determination of the 22-year-old Hammond resident, who after graduating from Purdue University Calumet next week with a double major in psychology and sociology, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology.

"Failure is not an option," said the former Bishop Noll Institute honor student, class president and prom queen. "I've always wanted to succeed and be a role model for my daughters."

To that end, she has been active in campus organizations-even started one for aspiring artists-held a job with the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana, frequently delivers motivational talks to at-risk youth and their parents, and diligently attended classes-sometimes accompanied by her 6- and 4-year-old daughters-to fulfill her goal of graduating within four years.

"You have to believe in yourself and make it happen," she said.

Making it happen also includes being selected to represent her graduating class in delivering the traditional "Response" during Purdue Calumet Fall Commencement Exercises, Dec. 21 (6 p.m.) at the Radisson Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville.

"I cried when my (academic) advisor, Barbara Osmon, called to tell me I was chosen to give the Commencement speech," Holman said. "Receiving that phone call that I was going to represent the class at Commencement was really a defining moment for me. It hit me that all my hard work had paid off."

-Hard work such as attending classes year-round for four years, keeping up with a multitude of responsibilities on and off campus, taking advantage of campus opportunities and being responsive to community needs-as well as dealing with the grief of losing a parent.

"Just trying to balance everything, like splitting time between school and the attention my daughters deserve, was hard," she said. "Speaking to at-risk kids and their parents is something I considered important to make time to do."

When her father died last spring, Holman said, "I knew I couldn't give up."

That she didn't is a tribute to her persistence and the success network she nurtured on campus.

"I love Purdue Calumet-the availability of the professors, the intimacy of the campus, the family here-academically, I've been challenged," she said, adding, "The moment you tell yourself you can't do something, you won't do it."