Degrees of Success™ Alumni Podcast Episode 35 – Schwanna Jenkins # How a Working Mother Built a Career in Mental Health Advocacy ## How a Working Mother Built a Career in Mental Health Advocacy [Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/nBytIv6-QrE?rel=0&controls=1&fs=0&modestbranding=1&cc_load_policy=1) × Chapter 1: The Journey of Purpose and Service 0:00 I started asking myself, first I was asking why. Why him, why me, why us, why is he going through these things? Because God knew I would take care of this kid. 0:07 He knew I would fight hand, tooth, nail, whatever I need to do to make sure this kid not only lives, but he thrives. And so I was like, at this point now I'm honored. 0:16 I'm honored to know that I was entrusted to be his mother and just to be here to fight for him and everyone who also is living with epilepsy. 0:36 Hello and welcome to the Degrees of Success podcast. I'm your host, Keith Chandler. 0:41 Today, we're joined by Schwanna Jenkins, a University of Phoenix alum whose journey is rooted in purpose and in impact. 0:49 Schwanna is a dynamic leader, speaker, and advocate who has dedicated her career to empowering others and creating opportunities for growth. 0:57 From her early realization that helping others was her calling, to her work in education and leadership and even sharing her insights on a TEDx stage, Shawana's story is one of resilience, vision, and service. 1:09 Please welcome Shawana Jenkins. Thank you for joining Degrees of Success, Shawana. you, Keith. I appreciate the opportunity to join you all in to chit chat with you today. 1:17 Looking forward to our conversation. I think we're going to have a great conversation as well. 1:20 So I want to start off going back a little bit because you had mentioned that you knew from a young age that you knew helping others was your, that was your calling. 1:30 That's such a powerful statement. Can you take us back to that moment of what exactly called you to serve others when you were so young? 1:39 naturally have always been a not just even a leader, but also just had the urge to want to help people. 1:46 Sometimes it was a man with some resistance. Other times, you know, just the the gratitude of, you know what, you heard what I said. 1:55 Thanks for listening. You know, I appreciate what you were able to do. I think that started just what I'm going to say. 2:02 It probably started somewhere between. 2:05 Probably even as young as five or six, my grandmother she not only named me, but she also, every time I turned around, like she would give you the shirt off her back. 2:14 um I remember friends of hers coming to stay with her and my grandfather a couple of times, you know, here and there, and they might be on hard times. 2:22 And she would just literally open her door and the kitchen to them and that would be it. 2:27 Just seeing her do that and just seeing her kind of, again, butt in sometimes too, when she would overhear people saying that they need help, definitely caused me to. 2:37 feel like, know what, that's a really great thing to do just to be able to help folks. 2:41 And so after that, between that and being the oldest of three siblings plus a bonus sibling, yeah, that was my role, just to help in this pitch in. 2:51 Instead of waiting for someone to say they needed something, almost anticipating that people's needs around me kind of thing. Very nice. 2:58 I was the youngest of three and so you were the the oldest. So how did that kind of inform your family and sibling dynamic is taking on that that leadership role? 3:07 Like, yeah, what role did you play for your your family along that journey? 3:11 I'm gonna say as much as my siblings hate for me to say it sometimes now, I'm gonna say I was you the bossy older sibling? 3:20 Yes. would they describe you as the bossy one? Yes. Even to this day now, when I say my little sister or my youngest sister, they're like, you know, I'm, forwarding that, right? 3:28 So you don't have to keep calling me that. I'm like, oh, okay. But I was almost like a third parent to them. Again, sometimes they loved it. 3:37 Other times they're like, why you always telling on us? you know, and I'm like, okay, well, sorry, you know, don't do that next time kind of thing. 3:45 Not only that, but I remember even when I first one to wait to the army. And then I came back home to visit my dad and my siblings. 3:53 I remember thinking to myself that one of the things that you learn how to do in the military, unfortunately, is curse. 4:00 And so I remember thinking to myself that when I come home, I can't use the language around them because I don't want them to pick up the language and then think that it's okay to say those kinds of things. 4:09 And so, you know, I would go around the house, like curbing what I was saying. And the next time know they were picking it up. So I would be like, oh. 4:17 mother father and they're like, what? Like, nevermind, it's okay. I'm just saying mad, you know, kind of thing. 4:26 But yeah. Yes. And I think, you know, as an older sibling, because I know people say it's nothing to the birth order, but I do believe that it is a real thing about the birth order. 4:36 And I think as the oldest, even without someone telling you, you have this desire to want to make sure that you make a great example for the people behind you. 4:47 but also that maybe if you can even help make it easier for them when they come behind you. Sometimes again, that's great. 4:55 Other times, I'm sure it was bothersome to my siblings, know, you're Shawana sister. Yeah, I have a name, but okay, you know, kind of thing. 5:03 But yeah, I definitely wanted to make a great example for them so they would not necessarily follow my footsteps, but just know that, hey, I can do amazing things too, despite some of the things we might have seen. 5:13 I followed my siblings as well. I thought they were bossy at the time, but also, yeah, they were trying to teach me pretty decent life lessons. True, true. 5:21 You had mentioned your military service. Thank you so much for your military service. Can you describe your capacity in military? 5:29 what was your calling like to military? What drew you to that level of service? 5:33 So the funny thing is this is a great story for the degrees of success um for Phoenix because of I think it's important for people to understand that wherever your journey takes you, when they see where you are today, it wasn't always that easy. 5:48 You had to go through some things and just like the Phoenix we rise from the ashes and keep it moving to do other amazing things. And so um I went right after high school. 5:58 I actually went um with the, I'm gonna say, the persuasion of my best friend. 6:04 uh She was going and so she was like, hey, sis, I think we should do this together. And I was like, okay, you said you're gonna pay for school, right? Cause I'm gonna go to college. 6:12 Okay, great. I'll do it. And so I went in with her. both um had 91 Bravo jobs. 6:19 um I was in there for a very short time, Keith, because what happened was even in my training, my arches fell, like I flew it on my knee. 6:28 All these things happen physically. 6:29 um And at the time they were like, well, would you like to continue to go on ah to your next training or would you like to go home? 6:37 And I was like, I want to go home. Cause now I feel like I need to pick up the pieces and figure out what I do next. 6:43 And so I came home and instantly literally stepped right back into helping my dad and my sisters and working two jobs and then getting my associates in political science from central Piedmont community college. 6:58 And so I remember thinking initially like, my God, this is not what I wanted to do. I planned on doing all these other things in the military. 7:04 But then I also realized that everything literally happens for a reason. And somewhere in there, I decided that actually, this was never my dream. 7:14 This was my best friend's idea that I wanted to go along with her because that's my sister. She is like a sister to me. And so, ah so then at some point I was okay with it and I just kind of moved forward. 7:24 um I developed some type of Chapter 2: Navigating Life's Challenges and Military Service 7:29 mantra years ago where I tell myself that if something happens as tragic as it could be and I'm saying I've unfortunately experienced whether it was a loss or anything of that 7:37 nature that I give myself a heart 24 hours 24 hours I'm going to feel all the emotions I'm going to I mean if I have to ugly cry if I'm in the forges I you know all those things but 7:48 after the 24th hour what do you do the next hour what's next you don't get to stay in the space because standing at space I think is what leads A lot of people, unfortunately, to make permanent decisions based upon temporary feelings. 8:01 And so I decided in that moment, hey, I got to do something else. So what does that look like? And then I just kind of started to plot forward a new path of what I wanted to do. 8:10 That's beautiful that that leads perfectly into what you're doing now. Tell us a little bit about your your work today and uh in what led you on a little bit about your education journey that led you to where you are today too. 8:21 Absolutely. So after I got my associates in political science, I worked for a while. 8:28 was in the midst of trying to figure out, okay, what do I want to do next? I actually thought about, I had said as a little kid, I wanted to go to law school because I love to argue and debate. 8:39 My dad will still tell you that I like to do that with him now. um So let's not ask him about that. 8:44 but I ended up going, came to Phoenix, um 8:50 or I was working at Bank of America back in 2010 or so, a good friend of mine said, hey, you know that Bank of America has an agreement with University of Phoenix that they will 9:01 give you like a small percentage off your tuition and you'll be able to pursue your degree. And I was like, oh, okay, well, let me look into this. 9:10 At the time, Keith, was newly separated from my husband with my son. 9:16 So I have this handsome little three year old kid and I'm just trying to navigate, well, what does this look like now? And so um I got into Phoenix. 9:25 It was very easy to get into the process. Okay, follow this, follow this, turn in all this and we should be able to get you started. I started and I was like, whoa, what did I just get myself into? 9:34 So ah it was a lot of papers and everything all of sudden, but somewhere along the And was that your first experience with higher education too? 9:43 Yes. Because you mentioned you joined the military right out of high school, correct? outside of my um associates at Central Piedmont Community College, that was my first like real experience with, this paper is due. 9:55 So now you got to take care of this. you have a group assignment to do. um So I pursued my bachelor's in criminal justice, um And um I graduated from Phoenix in 2014. 10:07 um It was such a moment for me. 10:11 um I made sure my son was there because I wanted him to understand, listen, remember how I said to you about doing your homework and stuff and everything. 10:18 This is why, because I have to do the same thing. I actually got into law school. 10:24 I think I scored like a 170 on my LSAT. I actually went to a strong school of law. Thank you. 10:32 I'm a little bit of a nerd out of that. Yeah. That's not an easy score to get. 10:37 It is not and I really was like, wow, okay, I guess it's meant to be so I actually went to a short school off for two years the school unfortunately end up closing down several of my Classmates kind of dispersed and like oh, I'm going here. 10:49 I'm going here. Do you want to go here? Do you want to go here? I was like, I can't leave cuz I'm at the bank I'm a single mom and my son he had already been diagnosed with epilepsy. 10:59 I Can't leave you I need to stay here. 11:01 You know, they were like, oh, okay, so then Again, Keith, here I am looking at life and trying to pick up the pieces. What do I do next? 11:09 So leaning on faith, talking to peers and just kind of figuring out, OK, what does this look like? So I say, you know what? 11:15 I see a lot of people in the bank moving around and making a significant amount of money in tech. 11:23 So maybe I need to go for that. And so I said, well, I'm going to go back to school. And I went back to Phoenix and which they welcomed me with open arms. 11:32 And um I pursued my master's in criminal justice cybersecurity. 11:36 um And so I started to navigate through that and the process I met my now husband, blended a family together and I graduated with that master's in 2018. 11:49 Got into tech, I think I was in financial problems at the time. And so then I moved to tech and it was, first of all, it was a great adjustment. 11:58 It was the money was like oh this m Sure, for sure. 12:06 I was like, now why didn't I come over here before? um So that was really cool. uh And I liked what I was doing at first. I was doing like cloud assessments. 12:14 um And then we started moving over to like issue management kind of thing, spotting issues and figuring out how to make sure that we fixed them before it's broken in the bank kind of thing for some mitigation. 12:27 So it was really cool. And then I started to think, okay, well made the money that I was thinking I wanted to make, okay. 12:35 What else do I want to do? else? Then of course, COVID-19 happened and the world shifted. 12:43 And I was like, okay, this is different. So what else do want to do? And so I remember telling my husband, I like, I want to help people. 12:51 want to help. I was like, and I don't feel like I'm helping people. I was like, I'm helping the bank, yay, but I'm not helping people. 12:58 was like, so I don't feel like my soul is being fed, if that makes sense. And so I prayed about it. 13:05 talked to Piers, my best friend, the same best friend that I followed into the military. I happened to be sitting and talking to her, which also, by the way, she's a Phoenix as well. 13:13 She's a bachelor's and master's at Phoenix. um, yes. And so I was talking to her and I saw her studying and I was like, what are you studying? 13:22 I was like, cause you can't be getting another degree because you already have your bachelor's and master's too. What are you doing? 13:29 She's like, Oh, I didn't tell you I'm going for mental health counseling. I was like, what? 13:34 I was like, Oh, Okay. I was like, well, that's great. was like, she was like, no, I think you should look into it too. was like, I don't want to go back to school. I'm done. 13:41 I'm tired of writing papers and everything. I don't want another group assignment. I'm good. And she was like, no, sis, I think you'll be great. I said, okay. Right. 13:50 And so I talked to my husband. I spoke to a couple of other friends. I talked to one of my really good friends who has been in the field for about 20 years. 13:57 And I asked her, cause she's very blunt, very direct. 14:00 And I said, Hey, Let me tell you what she said. She said, I should go back to school for that. Isn't that crazy? She was like, no, actually, I think you'd be great at it. 14:08 She was like, you already have the act of listening, the empathy, the desire to want to help people. She was like, I think you'd be great at it. Chapter 3: Finding a Path in Social Work 14:15 I think you just need the education, but I think you need to take it a step further. I said, what do you mean? She's like, I think you need to go for your MSW. And I was like, what? 14:23 I said, at the time I was ignorant to social work. And so I said, my exact words were to her. I don't want to take anyone's kids. 14:32 So she was like, Schwanna, that's not all social workers do. And I said, oh, okay. 14:37 So I did all this research, found out the amazing field of social work and how they literally touch like almost every single thing that you can think of from the NFL to DSS. 14:47 Like they literally are everywhere. And so I said, okay, okay. So I looked into it. Once again, looked into it and got admitted to Walden and the rest is history. 14:57 And now here we are. And I'm able to... 15:00 fully be myself in a field where I'm able to help people mental health wise, help them with resources that they may need, and genuinely continue to advocate, which I was doing that already in the first place. 15:12 So it almost feels like I'm not working when I'm doing it because I'm like, I was already doing that in the beginning, just trying to fight for the folks that maybe are marginalized or not being represented well. 15:23 beautiful. It kind of matches the philosophy of loving, really loving the work that you do or finding a way to get paid to do the work that you love. 15:32 Absolutely. And you've definitely found that path and you it might have taken a little bit of time to get there. But you found your way to get there. Correct. 15:40 So in your work today, uh you've built this wonderful career around helping others. 15:44 So what are some of your principle philosophies and how you approach your work for counseling individuals, social work, everything like that? 15:53 Tell me a little bit about your methods. So my methods include one, literally meeting the person where they are. 16:02 meaning the amazing thing about I think counseling, mental health, social work is that you can one, your whole self. 16:09 So I think it's really cool. I know for me in the past, when I first started going to therapy myself, I thought it was so great to see my therapist who looks like me and she had this big row of hair. 16:22 And I was like, oh my gosh, she's gorgeous. Like, oh my gosh, she looks like me. Okay, let's talk. 16:26 And then even talking to her and kind of, she would do a little bit of personal disclosure, which was great because I think sometimes we all forget that just because I'm seeing my therapist doesn't mean my therapist is not human too. 16:41 They have bad days, it's like I do. And so I think I've adopted a lot of principles from her who I love her. 16:48 I still see her on a regular basis because I thoroughly believe that If your therapist doesn't have a therapist, they should not be the therapist for you because we're all still going through things every day, no matter how healed you are. 16:59 But I would say meeting people where they are, letting them know I'm just as human as you are as well, um and just wanting to make sure that they feel heard and acknowledged before we even get into how I can help you. 17:12 Because I think the worst thing you can do is make someone feel like they're not seen or they're not counted. 17:19 Um, prime example, I'll tell you, um, when I was in internship last year before graduation, um, I was in the middle of a therapy session with someone, um, for my 17:29 internship and the client was, she was upset because she's still grieving the loss of her father from a couple of years back. And so we were talking and she, you know, she was crying for a second. Chapter 4: The Impact of Epilepsy on Family Life 17:38 She's like, I'm so sorry. It's like, no, you never have to apologize for having emotion. I w let's do that. This is the best place to do that. Let's do that. 17:46 And so she was, um, seeing a cry. So we're, you know, we're virtual. And all of sudden I hear a do-do-doop and I was like, can you give me just a moment? 17:53 I'm just gonna turn my camera off, I'll be right back. She's like, no, that's fine. She's like, I need to get myself together. I said, okay, I stepped away. 18:00 My son had a seizure next door in the right beside my office space is where his room is. And so I could hear him. And so I was like, okay. 18:09 So um I tended to him, make sure he came back. It took him about three minutes to come back. I came back to her and she was like, yeah, I'm so sorry. 18:17 I'm so upset. I was like, no. No, it's okay. said, just let you know, because I want you to understand I'm human and things still happen to me that trigger me or that could literally help cause my anxiety to rise. 18:31 My son just had a seizure. I said, that's why I stepped away from you. She's like, oh my God, do need to go? I said, no, this is exactly the reason why I'm here. 18:38 This is why I want to serve because of the fact I know that no matter how much healing and work you do, things will still happen and we have to find ways to manage around that. 18:49 um You just touched again on your son's epilepsy, which is also the topic of your TEDx speech that you gave. 18:55 um Let's go back in time a little bit to the moment where that kind of first impacted your life. What was that? 19:04 And you addressed this a little bit in your TEDx talk, the first time you witnessed your son having a seizure and how that kind of changed things for you. 19:12 It wasn't that day that you were having that counseling session. This was earlier, long before that. Right. Yes. He was three. 19:22 Now, he had had a seizure before that, but I had not witnessed it. He actually was with my mom about 14 months before that. 19:30 So he was two. And he was at her house. And I know you're not from here, but from where I dropped him off at her house, she spoils him rotten. 19:42 That was her first boy. She never had any sons. 19:45 for him, he is like, Simba to her, you The job of the grandparents. Right. Right. 19:53 And so, so I dropped him off and she lived about 30 minutes from my job. So I went to work and as soon as I sat down, Keith, I get a phone call. 20:02 says, Shawana, I think the Marxist had a seizure. I was like, wait, what did you say? What? I've never seen anyone have one. I've heard of a family member having one, but I never seen it. 20:11 And so I said, okay. And so she said, I just called a paramedic. They're going to come get us right now. Keith, I took off from my job. 20:19 right then it was like three minutes from mom's house and maybe like another 20 minutes to the hospital. I drove straight to the hospital and I beat her there. 20:27 That's how fast I was driving. So they pull into the ambulance, the emergency room bay and I'm already there like, Hey, what's going on? 20:36 You know, we get there. They're like, Oh, well, I mean, he's not doing anything now. So maybe it was just, you know, maybe he had a fever or something. I was like, okay, I asked my mom what he was watching, what he was doing. 20:45 She said he was watching something where it was flashing. So maybe that's what happened. I was like, okay, that's weird. Never knew that that was a thing for him. 20:54 So as you can imagine, for the first three or four months after that, I watched him like a hawk. I don't see any more seizures. So I'm like, maybe he was a fluke. Maybe he had a fever. We don't know. 21:03 Go fast forward 14 months from that day. And here we are, Saturday after Thanksgiving 2010. 21:11 And we walked to the grocery store just to walk and get some exercise. I think my sister and her family were visiting, they were asleep. So was like, hey, you know what, let's go do something just you and I. 21:21 So we walked to the store, come back. I told him to go to the living room and he's taking his shoes off so he can get ready to eat. And I'm getting like cereal and fruit out. 21:30 And so I hear a thump and I'm like, what was that? 21:33 And then I hear, I'm like, so I come out of the kitchen, I come around thinking he's playing a game and he is on the floor on his side convulsing. 21:43 And it scared the hell out of me, of course. And I was like, oh my God, what is wrong? Is he okay? 21:48 And so I scoop him up and I take him straight to the emergency room, which we happen to live about a mile away from, taken to the emergency room. 21:56 And I was like, I think he had a seizure. I don't know. And so the doctor immediately says, this is first one. I said, well, my mom said he had one 14 months ago, but this is the first one I've seen. 22:05 And the doctor says, well, he might have epilepsy. Again, ignorant at the time, I didn't know what that meant. So I said, well, no, he's hit all his developmental stages. 22:14 he was, you know, his afgar was fine. Like he has any issues. They were like, no, that's not what that means. was like, oh. So right there, I challenged myself to say, you know what? 22:24 I will never have another conversation about epilepsy without knowing more about it. So now I need to go do research and educate myself on it. And so that's I did. 22:31 And so from November of 2010 to January, 2011, he didn't have any more. 22:38 They've scheduled him for MRI on MLK Monday, 2011. And he went, had MRI. 22:46 They were like, yeah, we didn't see any brain abnormalities. So we don't know why he would have had the seizure. I was like, that's weird. He, the very next day, he had three seizures. 22:55 I was like, how do we just go from 14 months to a couple months to now three in a day? They were like, so then they called him and said he definitely has it. 23:03 I was like, all right. And so here we are. 23:05 Um, and like I was saying to my TEDx speech, you know, from there on life changed, like overnight, overnight, went from like, kind of, he was already kind of being raised to be independent. 23:17 And so it was an adjustment because now I'm like, Hey, you okay? You okay now? Hey, what do I now? Um, which now he hates that cause he's a teenager. 23:26 He's like, leave me alone. But, um, but somewhere in between that time, I started asking myself, first I was asking why. 23:35 Why him? Why me? Why us? Why is he going through these things? And I remember I spoke to a cousin of mine who had a daughter around the same age. 23:43 um And I heard her say this. Unfortunately, her daughter passed away because she was a preemie. Chapter 5: Advocacy and Raising Awareness for Epilepsy 23:50 But she said, you know, I started thinking, why not me? Why not? And I was like, no, you're right. 23:57 Because why not me? Because God knew I would take care of this kid. He knew I would fight. hand, tooth, nail, whatever I need to do to make sure this kid not only lives, but he thrives. 24:07 And so I was like, at this point now I'm honored. 24:10 I'm honored to know that I was entrusted to be his mother and just to be here to fight for him and everyone who also is living with epilepsy, not even just them, but also their families, because it is a major adjustment. 24:23 And I know maybe some people are not necessarily ready to talk about it, but it's important for us to also recognize the fact that we all do have to go through that period of mourning. 24:32 where you have to grieve for the life that you thought they would have. ah And not to say he won't have an amazing life, because I believe he will, but it's going to look different. 24:41 Because now, you know, he's trying to decide now if he wants to go to college. And I'm like, OK, great. You need to go somewhere like UNC Charlotte, somewhere down the street. 24:50 There's a lot of things to consider in that process. that you would have never thought about. He wants to drive, he can't drive yet. 24:58 Like I was saying in my speech, you have to be six months, no seizures before they will sign up on your driver's ed. His mother, me, I'm saying 12 months. 25:07 So. Being a little bit overly cautious in a good way. Yes. So, but all those things play a part in it, which of course at the time I didn't know. 25:16 I didn't know how much your, even your, what's the word I'm looking for? Your academics play a part in it. 25:23 Your mood, every single thing about your life. Epilepsy is like a spider and it touches every single piece of it. And you just have to really just prepare. 25:32 Okay. So what are we doing now? Okay. I was trying to keep him alive, but now I need to keep him alive and make sure his grades are up because he's not processing as fast now. Okay. 25:40 So it's all those things. What was the moment like for you when you decided to tell your story about you and your sons and your family's experience in dealing with epilepsy? 25:51 Before the TEDx, every single year, in fact, I think it's probably the first year that I haven't done something major, but I guess I did, TEDx. 26:00 But every November, this is Epilepsy Awareness Month, and so every November I challenge myself with something. 26:06 And usually it goes by his birth, his age that he's turning, because his birthday is December 2nd, right after Epilepsy Awareness Month. 26:15 And so I think like two years ago I said, hey, I'm going to challenge myself. He's turning 17. So I'm going to challenge myself to do 17 speaking engagements. 26:23 Even if it's five people or 20 people in a room or more, I'm going to speak out about epilepsy and raise awareness because a lot of people still don't quite understand what it looks like. 26:36 They think, well, yeah, you have convulsions, right? Well, what about the seizures that don't involve convulsions? 26:41 What about the ones that you're talking and you just kind of stare off for 15 seconds and Then you come back and say, hey, what happened? 26:49 Did I say something? What about the devices? Right now, he literally has two devices in his body. 26:55 One that's actually connected to his brain with the implant that he just got a month ago. 27:02 All these things, a seizure watch that he sleeps with at night to make sure that if he does have a seizure at night, we know that we can hear him because it'll call my phone and my husband's phone to say, hey, seizure, Demarcus needs your help. 27:15 All these things are put into place. But again, every year I try to figure out how I can spread awareness. 27:22 um And so like I think next year I had said, I'm already planning to go around to maybe some of local churches and talk maybe for like a five to 10 minute frame just to talk about, hey, let me tell you what this looks like. 27:35 Because I also realized that sometimes in the African-American community, people are not talking about it for fear of someone judging them. 27:44 And so I think for me, wanted to talk about it and to make it a thing because I see so many things about autism. 27:50 I see so many things about even ADHD, but no one really talks about how you're also neuro spicy if you have epilepsy. 27:58 So that's what drove me wanting to talk. I personally want to thank you for speaking out and being an advocate for those who have epilepsy. 28:06 Thank you. As someone who suffers from epilepsy personally, it's uh something that I think, again, it's such an invisible kind of... 28:17 disability. don't like to call it a disability, but it's something that people don't necessarily realize. um And you have to take a lot of things into consideration. 28:26 And there's also like some stigma attached to it as well. 28:30 You know, having to and I um feel very fortunate that I don't have it as a debilitating case as a lot of people do, such as your son, for example. 28:40 It sounds like he his surgery was reasonably successful as well. And it sounds like he's he's doing doing pretty good. Is that accurate? 28:46 Yes, he's only had um two seizures since the surgery. 28:51 um And ironically enough, um those two happened the night before TEDx during the rehearsal. 28:59 ah They have a video somewhere of me in the hallway and I'm pacing and I have my phone in this hand and I have my cue cards in this hand while I'm trying to like go over my points and I'm looking at the slide and then I get a text from my husband that says, a grandma. 29:15 Of course, I text back some explicit words and it's like, what? We made it 26 days. 29:21 How did we get from 26 days, no seizures to now that we're having this big grand mal seizure? And so I was like, okay, okay. 29:28 And so then a couple of seconds later or probably like 10 minutes later, I'm still going on my things. And so he's like, baby, he just had another one, but it's petite mal. 29:37 Another one? Okay. And so Janice, I think she walked over to me. She's like, hey, are you okay? You ready? And I was like, yeah. 29:44 She is the president of the University of Phoenix Charlotte Alumni Leadership Council. Yeah, just trying to pull myself together here because the market society's two seizures. 29:53 She's like, what? Oh my God. Do you need to leave? And I was like, no, I thought about it for a second. And I was like, she's like, you can come back. 30:02 I'm to be here tonight. And I know you wanted to get on stage and kind of test out the lighting and make sure you're good for tomorrow. And I was like, no, I don't want to leave. 30:10 She's like, are you sure? I was like, yeah, because this is why I need to be here. I literally have to be here because. 30:18 this is how important this is. I have to prepare myself to get this content out. said, because this is why it's so important, because life has to go on. 30:27 There's been so many times that he's had a uh influx of seizures or he's had a cluster of them. And I am still challenged with, hey, no, you still got to keep going. 30:37 Like you can cry tomorrow, but today you got to get this work done. 30:41 Thank you so much for listening to me today and for sharing so much of your story and your son's story and why you do the things that you do and what motivates you. 30:50 Yes. Schwanna Jenkins, that brings us to the end of this episode of the Degrees of Success podcast. Don't forget to like, subscribe and comment. 30:59 Thank you very much for joining us and we'll see you next time. University of Phoenix alumna Schwanna Jenkins shares how she navigated single motherhood, career pivots, and higher education while becoming a mental health advocate and epilepsy awareness leader. The video was uploaded on 3/5/2026. The video lasts for 31 minutes and 16 seconds. **Key Moments** 00:00 - The Journey of Purpose and Service 07:27 - Navigating Life's Challenges and Military Service 14:09 - Finding a Path in Social Work 17:30 - The Impact of Epilepsy on Family Life 23:48 - Advocacy and Raising Awareness for Epilepsy ```html ``` ```html ```