Janetta lived in a home where she was the oldest of seven children, 2 siblings and 4 foster children her Mom had taken in that were her cousins. The youngest was only 4 months old. She spent much of her free time babysitting the youngest children in a home where love was aplenty, education respected, and with an inner drive to volunteer. When she was interviewed her beautiful smile filled the room and her determination to not let those who doubted her shake her belief in herself and her aspirations for college was unforgettable.

Janetta graduated from Ball State University, May 3,2014 with a Bachelors of Science in Health Science (Community Health Education) and a minor in public health. She has an exciting internship with the American Diabetes Association in Indianapolis this summer, with hopes of staying on after the internship completes. Diabetes education is close to her heart, as she has family members who suffer from the disease. Her senior year Janetta has achieved her goal for academic excellence, making the Dean’s List each semester. She is a role model for all her young siblings at home that one can make their dreams come true for a college degree and be lifted from poverty.

She is a member of the Voice of Triumph Gospel Choir on campus and continues her passion for volunteering. She has been a wonderful mentor for the L.I.F.T. Goal Challenge program working with elementary students to improve their standardized test scores, as well as a L.I.F.T. Scholar mentor, and a weekly volunteer at Burly Center, an after school program at Ball State.

“L.I.F.T… an opportunity to better myself and to prove to everyone who once doubted and didn’t believe in me that they were wrong… in life you can be given obstacles but you have to have perseverance… Freedom is the power to act, speak, to think without externally imposed restraints. This seven- letter word gives me all the opportunity in the world to make my hopes and dreams possible.”