Chaquita Bandy, left, with mom Dr. Dorothy Miller.Photo:Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
From being an impoverished teen mom in rural North Carolina to watching her daughter graduate from a nursing program she created, Dorothy Miller has come a long way.
Exactly 13 years to the day after she received her own nursing degree, Miller watched with pride as her eldest daughter, Chaquita Bandy, graduated from St. Andrews University on May 7.
“My mother had to stop going to school when she was in the third grade because she had to go work on the farms,” Miller, 56, tells PEOPLE. “She knew that education would be the vehicle that would take me to a better future.”
Dr. Dorothy Miller (center) with graduating nursing students, including daughter Chaquita Bandy (second from left).Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
Miller said that her mom was disappointed when the teenager became pregnant, but she was determined to not let it derail her daughter’s future.
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Chaquita Bandy, left, with mom Dorothy Miller.Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
Growing up, Miller knew she wanted to become a nurse.
“I imagined myself working in a hospital and taking care of people at the bedside,” Miller wrote in a2022 blog postfor the school. “I knew it would be a tough battle to become a nurse. Firstly, I did not personally know anyone that was a nurse. I was not great in math or science and my high school counselor told me that because of my grades, I would never become a nurse.”
“As my high school counselor mentioned, the odds were definitely against me,” Miller wrote. “Fortunately, I was born with tenacity and the unmitigated audacity to refuse to give up.”
“Domestic abuse, sexual abuse and poverty seems to be constant bedfellows and I experienced all three growing up,” Miller tells PEOPLE. “My way of escape was reading. I read everything I could get my hands on. Reading created a window of escape as I would often fantasize about what life would be like outside my rural and impoverished community.”
Chaquita Bandy with her nieces and nephews.Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
Miller went on to get her associate degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s, a PhD and then another master’s.
She also served in the U.S. Army from 1995 to 2001. Her mother cared for Chaquita, who was 5 at the time Miller enlisted, during Miller’s period of service. When she got out of the military, she knew it was finally time to pursue nursing.
Miller, currently running for a seat on the North Carolina Board of Nursing, went on to work as a nurse for seven years before she switched to an academic career in health care.
Miller launched the first nursing school at St. Andrews in 2021. Not only was her daughter Bandy in the first graduating class, but her name was also the first one called during the May 7 ceremony.
Bandy currently works in the intensive care unit at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. Like her mother, her goal is to make sure patients get the best care possible. And she encourages others to never stop pursuing their dreams.
“A person’s walk of life is not linear and sometimes you veer off course,” Bandy tells PEOPLE. “But despite your missteps, you have to trust that God knows your purpose and path — and he will get you to where you supposed to be.”
Chaquita Bandy, center, with fellow grads.Rooney Coffman - St. Andrews University Photographer
It’s rewarding for Miller to see her child follow in her footsteps after being the driving force behind Miller’s own successful career.
“I think if I hadn’t been given the opportunity to have that child, I wouldn’t have accomplished what I did,” Miller says. “By having her, it pushed me to something outside of me that I could have a better future for her.”
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source: people.com
