SAN ANTONIO – Alandrya Fuller began her undergraduate studies at Prairie View A&M University, but when her mom got sick in 2019, she transfered to Texas A&M-San Antonio to care for her.
Her mother lost her vision and her extremities, so caring for her mother has made a huge impact on her life.
“I’ve been taking care of her for some years now, and still graduating and staying on honors and achieving all these achievements that I’ve achieved here... she’s proud of me,” Fuller said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it. Staying every night at the hospital, back to back, it was tough, but I stayed through it and it pushed me to become stronger to where I am today.”
In her last semester, Fuller won Undergrad Student Worker of the Year, senior distinction and Outstanding Senior. She was also involved in a variety of student organizations, such as Black Student Union and the National Society for Leadership and Success, but her favorite organization was the Campus Activity Board, because they handled most of the activities on campus.
Being involved in campus life really helped Fuller during her difficult balance of life and school and home.
“You learn different things,” said Fuller. “You’re learning how to change somebody and just change your whole life to stop for one person, and it’s difficult at times but I still pushed through.”
Being the first to graduate college in her family was also a big motivating factor. Now that she’s accomplished that, she hopes to continue to make them proud.
“I’ve had some tough four years, so I think me achieving that goal was kind of important to me because I didn’t think I’d be able to hit my senior year,” said Fuller. “Me being first generation (it’s) important for me to show my family it’s possible even though all the stuff I’ve been through, you can still achieve those type of goals.”
Her new goal now is to get an internship or job. She also hopes to one day work on a clinical trial for medical conditions related to her mother’s illness.
