Humans of Lee
Contributed Photo
Bethany Silverman with her daughter, Adalyn
I met with Bethany Silverman on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in her cozy apartment in Lee University's Carroll Courts, where she has lived for two years with her 4-year-old daughter, Adalyn.
Silverman, a non-traditional student and daughter of Public Relations Professor Patty Silverman, was given a chance to obtain a college education when she met her parents.
"I was in foster care for about 10 years of my childhood, and Patty and Steve Silverman adopted me when I was 13," Silverman said. "I never really had a hope for college, but because my mom worked here she really pushed it and made it important to me."
After initially enrolling at Lee in 2009, Silverman's life took a new turn, which led her to take some time off from school.
"I was still trying to figure out life and then I dropped out, had my beautiful daughter, and then got my life together. I figured out what I wanted to be and why I wanted to go to college, and then started back in 2014," Silverman said.
It was during that lapse of time that Silverman experienced tremendous changes, growth and a newly defined purpose for her life in becoming a mother.
"I was just settled in my life and I was okay with it, then I got pregnant and I started thinking that settle because if I settle now then Adalyn will settle for her whole life," Silverman said. "It took about a year and a half to weed out the people in my life that were bad, and I just started over. I quit my job, made new friends and I slowly started building relationship with my family, then decided to come back to school."
Despite all the challenges, Silverman looks back on her experiences and calls them blessings, especially the little girl that calls her 'mommy'.
"My mom and I always talk about how much of a blessing it is that everything happened when it did and how it did," Silverman said. "Even though I wasn't married, God can still take something like that and make it great even though it was worldly and maybe not great in the church's eyes."
As she works on her public relations degree, Silverman continues to chase her dreams of becoming a booking agent in the future and eventually moving to Nashville.
"I always knew what I wanted to do and that I had a passion for music. After graduation I'll probably be an assistant and help book tours and find talent," Silverman said. "I want to make the little people into the big people. Making my dreams come true is going to be helping other peoples dreams come true."
Though she has made plans, Silverman remains open about the future and seeks to inspire her daughter.
"I think I've got it all mapped out, but then you know God always steps in and so our plans don't always work out," Silverman said. "Even if I fail - because this is a really hard industry to get into - I don't care because she [Adalyn] can see that mommy went after her dreams."
