INDIANAPOLIS — Life doesn’t always go exactly as we plan, but one Indianapolis woman is proving if you put your mind to something, with strength and perseverance, you can do anything.
After more than a decade as a bus driver, she decided to pursue her degree in elementary education.
“When I was a kid, I was always like ‘what are you gonna be when you grow up?’ A teacher," Raven Henry said.
But life had different plans for the Warren Central graduate.
“Life went down. I tried different avenues," Henry said.
The 32-year-old has been a bus driver for Warren Township for the past 11 years.
A few years ago, she started substitute teaching after her routes.
She says interacting with her students every day inspired her to go back to school.
Now, adorned in a cap and gown, she stands proud as an ‘unapologetically dope, educated, teacher.'
“We are looked down so much in education period. For me to be an education grad, it’s just such a blessing to be celebrated as a black education grad," she said.
Henry graduates from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) with a degree in elementary education on Saturday.
And after that, she says she has some big decisions to make.
Henry has offers from both Warren Township and Indianapolis Public Schools to teach fourth grade.
As for what she’s most excited to teach come fall, she says...
“Coming into it, I thought it was going to be reading. But then when I started planning out reading, there’s a lot to it. Math has been my fun part in student teaching, so math it is.”
IUPUI Undergraduate Commencement will be May 13 at 10 a.m. at the Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
Henry tells WRTV she’s excited to wear her red and white jumpsuit for the ceremony.
