Michele Meckes, Mansfield City Schools Adult and Community Education director, joins Crystal Morgan in looking over Morgan’s successful GED test scores.
When Crystal Morgan earned her GED diploma this week, as the first step toward a nursing career, it was the second most memorable day of her life.
On Sept. 18, 2008 she gave birth to her daughter in an ambulance stopped on a four-lane Wisconsin bridge – only a few hours after learning that she was pregnant.
“I was helping my grandmother that day when I started not to feel well,” said Morgan, 33, recalling that her boyfriend at the time was away. “I continued to feel worse so a neighbor took me to the hospital.”
A doctor there gave her the surprising news that she was about to have a baby, but the small rural hospital was not equipped to handle the situation. Morgan was placed in an ambulance for transfer to another hospital and the doctor climbed in with her.
“We were on the highway and the doctor said ‘Don’t push.’ I said ‘I can’t help it!’ The ambulance stopped on a bridge and my daughter was born,” she said.
Now, seven years later and 70 pounds lighter, Morgan has begun her career journey by passing all required tests to earn her GED (General Educational Development) diploma in less than six weeks. She does not own a car, so she often walked to the Mansfield City Schools Adult and Community Education office on Hedges Street each morning after completing her overnight shift at an assisted-living facility on Blymyer Avenue.
“My little girl is the reason I’ve done this. She’ll be a second-grader in the fall and I want to be able to provide a good life for her,” Morgan said.
The girl’s father lives out of state and has no contact with her.
Morgan’s odyssey began when she dropped out of school in ninth grade in Mansfield.
“There were family issues. It was too hard for me at the time to go to school every day,” she said. “It was more the people I was associated with. I made bad choices.
“Since the year that I dropped out I have always worked. I have never been without a job. I have been with Mansfield Memorial Homes for four years.”
Early on May 4 Morgan walked to the adult education offices after completing her shift. She went through orientation and immediately began classroom study.
Morgan’s arthritic mother, who lives with her, made sure her granddaughter got on the school bus each morning.
Adult education director Michele Meckes was impressed with Morgan from day one.
“Crystal works the third shift. She came in here each day with no sleep, then went home and got her daughter off the bus. She spent time with her, got a little sleep and went back to work,” Meckes said. “The next morning she was right back here.”
Morgan passed the 90-minute online GED science and social studies tests on the same day in late May. The next day she passed the two-hour language arts and reading test. On June 2, two days before the formal GED graduation in the Mansfield Senior High auditorium, she came up six points shy of passing the math test.
“I came directly from work again that day. I was a little tired but fairly confident,” Morgan said. “I was disappointed when I didn’t pass the first time, but giving up did not enter my mind.”
Meckes never doubted Morgan’s resolve.
“Crystal is no quitter. I wish there were more students like her who wouldn’t give up after a setback. The online tests are not easy,” she said.
On Thursday Meckes helped Morgan with the paperwork necessary to enroll in the clinical care specialist course at Madison vocational school.
“My ultimate goal is to become an RN and work with babies,” Morgan said. “My daughter was in an incubator for five days after she was born.”
Meckes is certain Morgan will achieve her goal.
“She’s smart, mature and determined. She’ll succeed.”