“Mommy, where are you going?” As she prepares herself to walk away, the small voice of her 2-year-old-son echoes from behind her. She reminds herself of her mother’s words, that she cannot look back, because she knows if she does she will stay. Instead, she decides to walk away to pursue a dream that will take her over a thousand miles to Harding University in Searcy, Ark.
It all started when freshman Tajae Grey took a trip to the Cayman Islands to see her parents. She stayed to work in a local police station and began attending school in pursuit of an education degree. During this time she became engaged and later became pregnant with her son. By then, she knew that she had a decision to make.
“In my life there are two things I don’t believe in; abortion and divorce,” Tajae Grey said. “I knew what I was doing when this happened to me. It’s a responsibility, and my son deserves to be in this world, and I made that decision.”
Seven months into the pregnancy, Tajae Grey began to experience complications, dropped out of school and went on bed rest. The complications continued through 36 hours of labor.
Tajae Grey blacked out during birth and knows only the stories told to her. According to family, her son, Jaysean, was not breathing when he was born and was rushed to the ICU, where doctors discovered a hole in his lung. Tajae Grey and her son stayed in the hospital two weeks — Tajae Grey suffered from high blood pressure while her son’s lung healed.
“We were in fright,” Mario Grey, Tajae Grey’s brother said. “I remember us having strong faith at that time.”
Two years later, Tajae Grey worked as a radio personality and entertainment journalist. Her job quickly became a passion that she wanted to be her career. However, stress took its toll. She began putting in applications to leave the job so she could study, but her superiors revoked them.
“They were putting a hold on my life,” Tajae Grey said. “So I had to make that decision to apply without them knowing.”
With encouragement from her brother, Tajae Grey applied to Harding, where she was accepted. She went to Jamaica for her student visa, and arrived at Harding two weeks into the semester, leaving her son in the Cayman Islands with her parents.
“It was the toughest decision because my son was just two,” Tajae Grey said. “After his father stopped coming around, I was the only one — apart from his grandparents — that he was used to.”
Since making the move to Harding, Tajae Grey set her sights on the future, determining to follow her dreams and make a better life for herself and her son.
“In my heart, I still want to be an entertainment journalist,” Tajae Grey said. “Opportunities are here for me to do that, so I think I’m going to stick around.”
She speaks to her son via Skype every day, doing her best to keep their bond strong. In the future, she said she wants to move him to the states with her, but for now she plans on leaving him with his grandparents until she can give him the attention that he needs.
“It’s something that affects me a lot, but I know that I have to balance priorities,” Tajae Grey said. “He’s a very big priority, but getting this done to take care of him in the future is also a priority. It’s just a battle.”
Her future goals include an internship in Washington D.C., fulfilling her dream to become an entertainment journalist and bringing her son back home to her.
“I want him to know this is temporary, and after all of this is done, he’ll have his mom back,” Tajae Grey said.
