It's impressive enough that Shanice Roberts, a 17-year-old junior at Centreville High, will represent The Chantilly Academy, next week, in the Skills USA National Championship in Kansas City, Mo.
What makes it an even more remarkable is that, besides being a full-time student, she works part time and is a single mother of a 3-year-old son.
"She's gone through a lot of trials and tribulations as a young kid, and she shows up every day for school," said Wayne White, her cosmetology teacher at The Chantilly Academy. "She never complains, always has a smile on her face and has a funny sense of humor. And now she has the confidence to know that, if she gets it right, she could be on the podium at nationals."
Competing April 9 in the Skills USA State Championship in Roanoke, Roberts surprised everyone by winning a gold medal for her prepared speech about her own life. A first-year cosmetology student, she was up against seasoned veterans.
"No one gave her a snowball's chance," said Rich Spence, with the Academy's support team. "When she won, Wayne White cried. She beat the returning state champ who won last year."
Roberts' speech was on "Champions at Work" and how they do their best to overcome all odds. She said champions never give up and they stay in school through it all.
"I shared how I do each of these things," she said. "I have to do homework, go to work and take care of my son [Davonte, 3], while trying to help my grandma cook and taking care of the rest of my family." She and Davonte live in Centreville's Meadows community with her mom Brenda, grandmother Doris, brother Steven, 13, and sister Melissa Sue, 12.
In her speech, Roberts said, "You don't have to be the best of the best, the fastest, fittest, strongest, smartest or most beautiful to be a champion. You know what your goals are in life and try to accomplish them now, the day after and in the future. You do it for yourself — not to impress others. And you should have self-respect."
Just 14 when she got pregnant, she said it taught her to take responsibility for her actions. "It's hard, but I'm glad I have Davonte," she said. "He likes to play outside with other kids and is sociable and very funny, like a comedian."
Roberts works at Life Time Fitness, and Davonte enjoys playing with the children at its child-care center. He also likes being with his 2-year-old cousin and going to the park with his mom. "He plays Dora the Explorer games on the computer," said Roberts. "He can beat all the levels now; he's very smart for his age."
On a typical day, she's up around 5:45-6 a.m. and outside to catch the school bus by 6:45. The night before, she lays out Davonte's clothes for regular daycare for the next day. "He likes to change his clothes a lot, so I have baskets and baskets of laundry," she said.
Roberts gets home from school at 2:35 p.m., does homework or takes a nap and, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she leaves for work at 3:30 p.m. Those days, she works six hours; on Saturdays, she works eight hours, and Sundays, seven. "When I come home, I'm tired, so I sit down a bit, give my son a bath, put him to bed and then try to do more homework," she said. "But I'm exhausted."
She takes cosmetology at the Academy, in addition to her classes at Centreville High: AP American Civilization (English and history combined), geometry, physics and Teacher Cadet classes. "That's my favorite class," said Roberts. "We went to Centre Ridge Elementary, two or three times a week. I taught fourth-grade math and English to first-, second- and third-grade special ed students. I helped the teachers and worked with students individually."
She said doing so helped her overcome her shyness and prepared her to speak in front of people for her competitive speech. "The kids wrote me thank-you notes, and that made me feel really good," she said. "I like to help children and see the results. And I like seeing the reaction on their faces when they learn something — and knowing that I taught them that."
Roberts recently taught Davonte how to tie his shoes, as well as how to spell his name by turning the letters into a song so he could sing them. "He was so proud," she said.
She hopes to eventually get her cosmetology license and maybe work part-time in a salon to earn some extra money. But for a career, she'd like to teach, be a paramedic or do social work.
Roberts said the toughest part of her life is "just juggling everything and trying to be a teen-ager. I don't go out and have fun and, sometimes, it's frustrating. Right now, I feel like I'm a grownup; I have a lot on my shoulders." Still, she's focusing on getting good grades so she can get a college scholarship.
At the state championship, she was scared how her speech would come out but, she said, "Mr. White said don't worry about memorizing anything because it's my story and it was coming from my heart. Mr. Spence was a big help, too. He made me give my speech in front of him and other people, and they critiqued me."
Roberts said White taught her that, "You might not get a skill, the first time, but practice makes perfect. He told me not to worry about winning at states because the experience, alone, would be good. I think I have a pretty good chance at nationals [June 19-25] because, at states, I beat the person who came in 10th in the nation last year."
She's also happy that she's still in school, "despite everything." And her advice to others is, "If you put your mind to it, you can do it — at least try." She said people expect young, single mothers like herself to "drop out of school, fail and go on welfare. I just wanted to break that stereotype."
And what she wants for her son is for him "to be a good student in school and successful in whatever he wants to do. And I'll be there to help him."