Peggy Jane Mussenden carried many responsibilities throughout her life as an educator, student and also my grandmother.  Born December 12 , 1944 Ms. Mussenden grew up in Washington DC, with three other siblings. Her parents pushed all four of their children through college and instilled in their minds that education was a necessity in order to live a healthy, stable life. Ms. Mussenden experienced some discrimination as a child since her family was the only black family in her neighborhood during this time. Despite the prejudiced attitude towards her, she did not let it affect her happiness or success. Later in her school days, my grandmother notes that she didn’t face any discrimination towards her in schools or outside of school, however she does recall that at a young age, she learned that no one could make her feel any less than what she is or enable her from becoming what she wanted to be in life, No matter her finances, color or gender. She knew that all she needed was knowledge and determination to be successful.

Nothing that her life had more complexities to face than our generation, Ms. Mussenden says “Your generation has many more opportunities than I had growing up. That’s the major difference in our possibilities to being successful. You have so many more chances you could take, so many things handed to you.” While my grandmother is hopeful for this current generation, she says that this generation is “spoiled but incredibly intelligent”.

Throughout her early adulthood she hardly relied on her parents because she knew that they were already struggling to maintain their home and send three other children through college. During this time she says, “especially for blacks, my parents didn’t make as much money as parents make now.”  My grandmother worked numerous jobs while in school in order to provide for herself and also take a financial burden off of her parents.

Mrs.Mussenden learned at an early time of life how to balance work and play. She also looked up to her older sister who successfully graduated college and law school. She says, “It was nice to see my sister finish college, but it was even nicer to see my mom’s dreams come true.”

This pushed my grandmother to follow the path of success her sister followed. She suggests that this generation pick role models to follow in order to see that their goals are attainable. She says some teenagers today get caught up in the wrong things including technology which she thinks is great. “I didn’t have that growing up, but you can’t let it consume you.” She says.

She is not saying don’t have fun, but rather, “Always put things that are going to improve your life first on the agenda.”

My grandmother was often surrounded by people struggling to make it in life, and didn’t ever want to be in that position. She learned at a young age to support her own needs and follow in her mother’s footsteps not only as a successful worker, but also a mother and independent, respectable woman. She also admired her dad’s work ethic and the foundation he built for the family.

Her parents were together until death, and this taught her that there are key factors that any relationship needs to be successful. As such, she never accepted anything less from the people in her life. Everyone she chose to interact with only bettered her as a person.

Ms.Mussenden wisely and carefully made decisions in her life based on her surroundings, goals and influential people around her.  She aimed towards higher standards for herself and accomplished them by keeping her eye on the prize. She says, “Anything is achievable, as long as you have all the essentials you need to be the person you want to be.”