Page 38 - May 2015 Catalyst

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM “LEARNING TO TRUST IN GOD”
By Luella Redfern | Continued from pg 36
Thelma was very ambitious when she arrived in Columbia, at the age of 21. As secretary to the prominent young attorney, H. Ron- ald Stanley, she was a little timid however, eager to learn. She discovered her purpose and fell in love with law. She was an excel- lent protégé and learned quickly. After about six months of observing Attorney Stanley, she was determined to understand all the fundamentals of the real estate department. Her f irst challenge was getting him to have confidence in her ability to get the job done. One day she was courageous enough to call him into a meeting. She said, “I want to do more, I want to learn more, and most of all, I want to make a difference.” Thelma believes the strong work ethic instilled in her by her parents gave her the courage to have that conversation. She became his Legal Secre- tary that day.
A born leader, very smart and destined to make an impact, Thelma began preparing all the real estate transactions for the firm. With dedication and eagerness to learn she quickly worked her way up to paralegal and office manager. It was not long before At- torney Stanley had to acknowledge the fact that his clients loved and respected Thelma and she was knowledgeable and competent to work closely with him in his law office.
While working at the law firm full time, a full time wife and mother, Thelma decided to go back to school. She obtained a Parale- gal Degree in 1989 from Columbia Junior College and that was only the beginning. In 1992 she passed the State License insurance Exam and was issued an Agent License for the State of South Carolina, which au- thorized her to issue Title Insurance under InvestorTitleInsuranceCompany. Shebe- came a licensed Real Estate agent in 1993 but that was not enough. In May of 1994 she was accepted into Columbia College and
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graduated in 1998 with a BA Degree in Pub- lic Affairs.
Thelma’s ultimate goal was to become a Lawyer, which would allow her to represent clients in court and to help the less fortunate. She initially applied to the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1999 was waitlist- ed then ultimately rejected in August. Not to be discouraged she enrolled in Webster Uni- versity receiving her Master of Arts Degree in Human Resource Management & Human Resource Development in 2003. Her Master thesis focused on Segregation and the involve- ment of the NAACP during the Civil Rights Movement. She was singled out by her profes- sor as exemplary and commented to the rest of the class as illustrative of a well-written paper. Unbeknown to Thelma, Webster University would become a major turning point in her life.
In 2004 Thelma reapplied to the Univer- sity of South Carolina School of Law. Several friends, employers and inf luential individu- als wrote strong letters of recommendations. Again she was rejected. Not only was she rejected, she received a very discouraging re- jection letter from the first and only African American Dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law, copied to two of the School of Law professors. The letter “empha- sizing nothing said here will guarantee your admission to the University of South Carolina School of Law” suggested that she withdraw her application, retake the LSAT, take the GMAT, secure a strong detailed recommen- dation from a demanding professor at Web- ster University, write and publish an article, and work as a graduate research assistant for a USC professor. After such a discouraging let- ter, most people would have quit and given up, but not Thelma. She was more determined to go to law school.
One of the things we learned as children is a delay or a rejection is not necessarily a denial. God uses delays and rejection to get us ready
May 2015