KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nayzia Thomas is a hard-working student. She’s 18 years old. A Sophomore at Johnson County Community College and up until recently had three jobs. Then, nine months ago, she got pregnant.
“It was a nice surprise. But I went into planning mode because I knew the birth would time out to be around my finals schedule at school,” she said.
December came. Finals started. Thomas went into labor.
“Obviously, my mind and my nerves were everywhere with the thought 'I'm about to give birth.' It was definitely frightening for me.”
Wearing a hospital gown, lying in a hospital bed she whipped out her laptop. Thomas wanted to finish her Psychology final.
my mom took this pic & it's the perfect explanation of my life. yes i'm about to have a baby, but final SZN ain't over yet 🤓📚 pic.twitter.com/7LyrDBE9iN
— nayzia' (@naydxll) December 12, 2017
“I had to keep leveling myself thinking the quicker you get this done the quicker you can focus on one, not two things,” she said.
Barbara Ladd is her professor of Psychology.
“She was texting me from the labor room saying I think I will be able to get out of here tomorrow. And I was like, please don’t worry about that. Have a safe delivery and a happy baby and we'll work all of it out!” Professor Ladd said.
Thomas mom, Aisha Kelley snapped a picture of her daughter in the bed with her computer. It went viral.
update: on 12/12/17 we had a healthy baby boy. However, I experienced major blood loss & my body went into shock post-delivery. It was very scary, but his father was right there to take over when I went unconscious. We are blessed! AND I'm finishing the semester w/ a 3.5 GPA!💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/CLFGjf3hLD
— nayzia' (@naydxll) December 14, 2017
“I initially took the picture capturing the moment because I wanted to show her son in the future like look at your mom in labor and still hitting those books,” Kelley explained.
Finally, Thomas completed the final. Her baby was born. Anthony Johnson entered the world at a healthy 6 pounds 15 ounces. Thomas finished the semester with at least a 3.5 GPA.
Thomas plans to return to school in the spring semester with a new lesson for her new son.
“That’s what everyone says, he's not going to have no excuses to work hard," said Thomas.
