Statistically speaking, Paige Jackson shouldn't be where she is today. But she has learned to trust God and seek healing from a troubled childhood.
"What I want for my students to understand more than anything is that regardless of the actions that our parents have made and how they have impacted us, it becomes ultimately our responsibility to understand how we need to be healed," she shares.
Video Transcript
Paige Jackson: Most people may not know this about me, but those who are closest to me understand that I come from a background where both of my parents struggled with substance abuse.
Paige grew up in a rough neighborhood in East Detroit.
Paige: And having to live with my village. So I lived with my grandmother, I lived with my aunt, I lived with my stepfather, and I also learned to become independent, because the next door neighbor...she abused me.
What I had to do was choose to be positive on purpose and understand that if there was a reason for a person to not succeed, it would be me. However, I believe that God's purpose over my life was that much more stronger, and so statistically speaking, I shouldn't be where I am today.
Paige is now a doctoral candidate who mentors and empowers minority students.
Paige: When students share with me that they have a new job opportunity or an interview for an internship or something that's coming up, I told my students this, "Go ahead. Tell me all of your things, your fears, so we can address them so then we can move forward, so that you can be the best person or the best version of yourself."
Through all of those things, I wanted to ask the question, ‘why me? Why me?’ But what I learned is that I don't know how productive that question is, because there's this belief that bad things shouldn't happen to “good people,” but when I searched text or scripture, there isn't a story that suggests or is there a scripture that suggests that good people are exempt from bad things.
Everything that I have gone through has led me to this moment. Scripture says that all thing work together for our good, and I believe that. Once you know that, you will recognize that this is exactly where you're supposed to be.
So what I want for my students to understand more than anything: that regardless of the actions that our parents have made and how they have impacted us, it becomes ultimately our responsibility to understand how we need to be healed and which ways we need to be healed.
I believe that through God, through prayer, through meditation, understanding who I am and how that my past has impacted me, healing can occur. It can occur.
Hi. This is Paige. For more stories like mine subscribe to the Grotto Network.
