Photo: Briana Williams/Instagram
A Harvard Law student wasn’t going to let anything — including childbirth — stop her from taking her final exam.
In April 2017, Briana Williams, of Los Angeles, California, unexpectedly went into labor while she was taking her Family Law exam.
In an Instagram post, Williams said that she “immediately requested an epidural so that my contractions wouldn’t interfere with my Family Law grade.”
“This ‘biting the bullet’ experience is quite quintessential of my time at Harvard. To say that my last year of law school, with a newborn, and as a single mom was a challenge would be an understatement,” she added.
One year later, on May 24, Williams posed with her now-1-year-old daughter, Evelyn, on her graduation day in matching caps and gowns.
“Evelyn- they said that because of you I wouldn’t be able to do this. Just know that I did this BECAUSE OF YOU,” she wrote.
Williams admitted that some days she couldn’t leave her bed because of extreme mental and emotional fatigue, and at other times, she struggled with reliable childcare.
“It was not atypical to see me rushing through Wasserstein to the Dean of Students’ office with Evelyn in her carriage, asking DOS can they keep her for a few until class was over,” wrote Williams, who is the first and only person in her family to graduate from college.
Williams toldUSA Todaythat “upon graduating I wanted to show people myself. I didn’t know how receptive people would be towards it. I’m just thankful that people were.”
It’s not the first time that Williams has made headlines. In October 2017, Williams spoke out about an August 21, 2017, incident where she claimed she was forced off an American Airlines flight with her then 4-month-old daughter, after she asked for her stroller back during a long delay, according toAbovetheLaw.com.
American Airlines have yet to respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“The pilot put me in a potentially dangerous situation with law enforcement as a young, black woman, saying that I was a ‘threat,'” WilliamstoldThe New York Daily Newsat the time. “This type of rhetoric paralyzes the African-American community, and I want to ensure that policies are put in place that regulate the pilot’s discretionary abilities.”
According to the outlet, Williams said her flight heading from Atlanta to New York was delayed for more than five hours because of bad weather leading to air traffic control issues.
When passengers were asked to leave the plane, they wouldn’t return the stroller she had checked at the gate, she says.
William’s isn’t slowing down anytime soon. She will be joining a top law firm in Los Angeles,she wrote in another Instagram post, where she will be a part of both their litigation team and also take on pro bono cases.
“Try as hard as you can to do what you have to do…Eventually you’re going to receive the glory from that,” she toldUSA Today.“And not only that, your child is going to be even more appreciative of you and the sacrifices you made.”
source: people.com
