Below is the transcript of Destiny’s speech at The Care Center’s 2024 Annual Fundraising Party:
Good evening. My name is Destiny Bermudez. I am a 25-year-old mother, born and raised in the Bronx. I have a five-year-old daughter named Janylie.
Often, I am torn between getting a better education for a better future or working to meet better living conditions. But I am not willing to accept a dead-end job, never feeling the contentment of an actual career. My child deserves a mom who can go to work for the same eight hours she is at school, instead of a mother who has to lose out on that time in order to make some ends meet, and not even all. Missing out on my child’s youthful years will affect us both, these years will never be repeated. I am one mother of so many here in America who suffer from the economy’s structure.
My Dreams for My Daughter
I want the opposite of what the system wants for Janylie. I don’t want her to stress about living conditions or how she’s going to get a loaf of bread or worry about the lights being on. I don’t want her to feel like everything is a choice of the lesser evil. I believe the steps I am currently taking to further my education will lead me and her to a better place.
Our journey is just beginning.
Finding The Care Center
I left New York City under some unfortunate circumstances, and I was looking for something better. When I got here, I had a wonderful DTA social worker named Eddie who pointed me in the direction of The Care Center. In two months, I earned my high school equivalency diploma. And I did it with flying colors – salutatorian. I was able to make friends and family. I even pioneered the first tutoring program for other young mothers.
Creating a Village
Then The Care Center surprised me – they had a college downstairs. I was a little iffy, but my counselor Monica pushed me. She said, “Go ahead. You can do it. You are doubting yourself.”
So, I did it. I began attending Bard Microcollege Holyoke in August. Instantly I knew I had found my kind of people. I remember thinking, this is where we can create a village of our own, the village that every woman deserves to be a part of. This is where we can create a community to thrive in, and our children can be a part of it all.
Bard is amazing. The confidence I’ve gained here has helped me push myself further than I thought possible. I do more work than I thought I’d ever want to. The Microcollege is a compassion-filled environment that reaches everyone who steps in the doorway, even the babies who occasionally grace the classrooms. It feels almost like family. I have had the chance to create such beautiful friendships. The staff is flexible, kind, dedicated, and understanding, including the front desk ladies and the drivers.
Lifting Up Those Around Me
My partner, Henry, has been extremely supportive too. Because at the end of the day it’s not just for me. We’re all trying to make it somewhere better. We were both dropouts when we had our child, so I asked him, “Do you want to be better?” He asked me to tutor him, and he immediately excelled. He accomplished his high school equivalency diploma this January and he’ll be starting college this summer. It’s not just us. Everyone around us is getting inspired. My mother and my sister are both thinking about joining Bard next fall.
To My Daughter, Janylie
My daughter loves to sing and to dance and I hope in the next year or two we’ll be putting her into dance school, to pursue her passion. I want to encourage her about college. Not about what college costs or what college debt can leave you with.
No, Janylie, I want you to be excited by college experiences. I want to drive you to college. I want to fill your dorm up with a bunch of things you enjoy. I want to take you to go visit all of your options before you decide. I want you to choose a career that you’re going to enjoy and wake up happy that you can impact someone else’s life.
Reaching Higher Peaks Than I Ever Imagined
As for me, I am invigorated to reach higher peaks than I ever imagined. Back when I was in The Care Center’s high school-level program, they had taken us on a trip to Smith College for a poetry reading to see Hanif Abdurraqib. It was just beautiful. The grass was green. The sun was shining. They had a beautiful waterfall in this giant library, and I was in awe. It felt like this was something that only existed in movies. So, Smith is my dream. After getting my associate degree from Bard, I want to go to Smith College to achieve my bachelor’s degree.
At The Care Center we get a chance to walk both roads ahead of us, the road to success and the road of motherhood, because we can have it all! It is an honor to finally be able to see clearly who I can become. I am filled with pride when looking in the mirror, knowing that more accomplishments await me.
We are told when we become mothers that our lives are over. Clearly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The only things coming to an end are the old versions of ourselves that no longer have any growth to offer.
This is only the beginning.
