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When she learned she was pregnant with triplets, Alexia Ray was shocked, happy, and slightly incredulous.
"My first response to the technician doing the ultrasound was, 'Stop playing,'" she said.
The technician wasn't joking, and a few months later it was Alexia who didn't stop playing with--and changing lots of diapers for--her newborn triplets. For some mothers, a triple dose of baby would short circuit any outside ambition.
But just two years after Keenan, Khalil, and Ashari were born, Ray decided to go to law school. Ray had worked in several inner-city schools and wanted to continue working with youth. She considered a career in counseling but chose law instead and is now a court-appointed special advocate for children and teenagers in the juvenile court system.
"I want to ensure that their voices are heard," Ray said.
Her children, now five, attend school in Augusta, Ga., where she lives. Ray commutes from Augusta to Columbia every morning, which turn can turn minor emergencies into major events. One morning she had driven as far as Lexington County when school called to tell her that her daughter had knocked out a tooth. She turned right back around.
"[There are] trying moments," she said.
One of her most terrifying experiences was when one of her sons had an asthma attack. She had to leave school to take him to the emergency room in Augusta, where her other son had an attack as well.
"They were in ER rooms next door [to each other]," she said. "It was an intense experience."
Ray's husband, Kenneth Ray, is in the military and was stationed in Afghanistan during her first year at law school. Her parents and family live in Mississippi, so she had to rely on friends to help her when she couldn't get back to Augusta quickly. Things have been easier since her husband has returned. "My husband is very supportive," she said.
"Alexia has a great attitude about fulfilling her law school dream," said law school student services coordinator Joanne Heiting. "She has been like 'sunshine' coming into my office each morning."
And now that the triplets are old enough to attend school, she is in good company. "They have a kindergarten teacher and a teacher's assistant, and that's it. And they know I'm in school, so they like to ask, 'Mommy, how many teachers do you have?'"she said.
After graduating, Ray plans to take the Georgia bar exam in July.
4/07
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May law school graduate Alexia Ray relaxes for a moment with her family.
