Flint native credits support in her hometown and a college degree for
beating the odds and finding success

Posted by Beata Mostafavi| Flint Journal June 15, 2009 10:30AM
Categories: Flint – News

Linda Fowler didn’t have the easiest childhood in Flint.

Raised by a single mom and Armenian refugee who struggled with English
and worked three jobs to support her two children, Fowler often moved
around when her family couldn’t make rent.

But when I ran into Fowler at a Mott Community College conference on
helping struggling students finish school recently, Fowler was living
in the Washington D.C. area where she runs a consulting company.

She boasts a graduate degree from the University of Michigan and has
taken several steps up through her career.

She has found success.

College, Fowler said, opened all the doors to a better life.

"Her mantra to us was always about the value of education," the 1984
Central High School graduate said of her mother.

But she still needed help getting there. Federal food assistance, free
school lunches and financial aid for college were critical.

And there were the strong role models and mentors who helped her learn
why higher education was so important.

Growing up poor doesn’t mean you can’t do great things, Fowler
said. But the odds are against you and you might need extra support to
get there.

"It’s about being able to have a vision, about seeing a better
situation from where we started," she said. "Sometimes we need
guidance to show us where we can go."

Fowler also asked me to pass this message along to her hometown in a
letter she wrote:

"Somehow, the Flint community, through all my travels and experiences,
has stayed with me and fortified me. I have humble gratitude for a
community that gave me what I needed … to inspire me to break
through and the resolve to give back.

"Thank you Flint."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress