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<p data-pm-slice="0 0 []">There is nothing you can’t do when you put your mind to it! Every day Black people are out here killing it as they use education as a platform to not only achieve their dreams but change history! We love to spotlight men and women, no matter the age, when it comes to Black excellence, and as the months go by, ya&#8217;ll are continuing to raise the bar! For one wife and mother of 7, Alena Maze has been persistent in her studies to earn her Ph.D., and her hard work has paid off!</p>
<p>Alena has become one of the first people to obtain a <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/woman-named-marijuana-pepsi-has-gone-viral-for-earning-her-ph-d-with-dissertation-on-uncommon-names/">Ph.D.</a> in the field of Survey Methodology! Not just in the United States, but in the whole world! In a lengthy Instagram post, Alena shared the good news. “I successfully passed my Ph.D. dissertation defense! I’m the first African American person in history to receive a Ph.D. in the field of Survey Methodology. Not just in the USA but [in] the entire world. That also means I’m currently the only Black person to hold a Ph.D. in this degree,” Alena wrote. “My dream was to inspire other Black girls and women to achieve the highest education they could in their field. To reach higher. Never did I think my love of Math and Health would lead me to be a &#8216;first&#8217; in Black History.”</p>
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<p>Alena continued explaining how long the journey took her to receive the degree after spending 5-6 years doing tax research. She didn’t give up as she detailed spending the last 3 months stuck up in her office space, focusing on finishing her variance derivations and estimations.</p>
<p>Roomies, we hope that reading stories like this can inspire you to change the narrative and keep pushing towards excellence.</p>
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