An image of Tommitrise Collins , a 21-year-old college student, taking her psychology exam at the hospital while in labor in a delivery room has become a viral phenomenon on Facebook. The photo shows how Collins, despite being in the middle of labor, concentrated on answering the questions on her exam as she sat on her hospital bed with her laptop open. According to the Huffington Post , the story went viral within hours of being posted on Facebook and has already received more than 15,000 shares as of the time of this writing.
Daily Mail reported that Tommitrise was rushed into hospital after her water broke five days earlier than she was expecting. Unfortunately, Collins’ labor contractions began the same day she had a psychology exam. The test date had been scheduled for some time and there was no other day she could take it.
Collins spoke with news outlets and said “that was the only day I could take the test. I was determined to stay in school, and determined to have my baby.”
Despite having contractions every three minutes, she managed to finish the exam.
“It took me 4-5 hours after the opening of the test to try to put the pain to the side and do it so I wouldn’t have to do it later and I could enjoy my newborn,” Collins explained to Fox 5 Atlanta .
Collins told reporters that even her nurse was shocked about her taking the test. For hours, Tommitrise tried to forget the pain of childbirth and focus on the questions. What’s even more impressive about this story is that she did not use any drugs to alleviate the discomfort. However, she was determined to finish and found out later that she had passed. The Middle Georgia State University student finished the two-hour exam in about an hour and 30 minutes, but she wasn’t satisfied with her first score so she requested to take it over and ended up with a “B” on the exam.
The scene of Tommitrise Collins finishing her exam while in labor was immortalized and uploaded to Facebook by her sister Shanell Brinkley-Chapman, and it quickly became a viral sensation.
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“This is what you call ‘Strong Priorities,’” Brinkley-Chapman captioned the photo. “Contractions 3 minutes apart and still takes her Psychology Test! You are going to be a great Mom baby sis!”
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After nearly 20 hours of labor, Collins delivered a healthy baby girl at 9:19 p.m on November 12. Tyler Elise weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces. Following the birth of her child, Tommitrise thanked everyone for their support and said that she is only a single mother trying to finish college. She said that “when you’re determined to do something, it’s really not that hard. I don’t want my GPA to drop – I need my A!”
Collins, who has a three-year basketball scholarship and lives with her family in Macon, Georgia, says that her “goal in life is always to motivate people” – and thinks her story from the maternity ward could help. She is getting her second degree and she plans on pursuing a career in law enforcement as a forensic scientist. She has already been offered a deputy’s job with the Macon County Sheriff’s Department.
This story of a woman finishing exam while in labor echoes a story that occurred in 2011. As reported by Jezebel , Emma French of Scotland passed her driving test about four hours after her water broke.
French spoke with media sources and gave the below statement regarding her impressive feat.
“I didn’t dare tell the examiner I was in labor in case he made me cancel the test,” she said. “The nurses in the hospital were very confused because I was getting congratulations cards for both my baby and my driving test.”
[Image via Facebook/ Shanell Brinkley-Chapman]
