Serena Belmont

     A strong woman is strong at work. I am that strong woman; both muscle and tears. Having worked since the age of 16 I have the strength, determination and fortitude, not only to survive but also to succeed. As a young, single woman, my hard work enabled me to live a life with a degree of security and direction. But my life changed forever when I gave birth to a beautiful boy with curly hair and amazing eyes. I knew in that moment that a minimum wage job, even after years of hard work, that a life without the ability and choices that financial security brings, intellectual growth and fulfillment, would simply not do. What supported one would not support and nurture two, and I would do absolutely anything it took to give my son the safety and the opportunities that he and all children?so deserves.
     A strong woman is a woman making herself strong every morning. Having my son inspired and challenged me to push beyond my furthest expectations, to work harder than I ever imagined that I could, to battle endlessly if necessary for our futures, and yet in the same moment to feel genuine contentment, love, and happiness. After my son was born I was laid off from work and fought the material pain of poverty. I realized that without a bachelor’s degree I would never be able to give my son the security and future he deserved, nor would I ever be able to model for him the kind of commitment and fulfillment that I hoped would fill his life. My going back to college was absolutely pivotal to our lives, and I knew that what I wanted and needed more than anything else was beyond my reach without the resources I simply did not have.
     A strong woman is strong/In words, in action, in connection, in feeling /Strength is not in her, but she enacts it as the wind fills a sail. I refused to give up; responsibility to my son kept me going. At home we read and played together, whispering dreams for our future. I succeeded for our sake. In the process I gained self-esteem, became increasingly creative, innovative, and in control of my life. Education no longer seemed a passive endeavor. As a matriculated Hamilton College student I began studying communication and art, crafting and honing my own pathway, my own honors program. I give back to the college and the community in volunteer work that allows me to bring all of who I am - an artist, scholar, computer technician, community member, parent - together productively. I am embarking on a career, not a job, and my son is healthy, happy, and loved. He falls gently into sleep at night knowing that I am a strong woman, working into the very late hours of the night, determining lives of dignity, hope, and success for both of us. He knows and in that knowledge and in our struggle he will develop into a strong young man, caring about others, and working with others with respect and dignity. Anything less will simply not do. What comforts her is others loving her equally for the strength and for the weakness/Strong is what we make each other/Until we are all strong together.
   (With excerpts from “For Strong Women,” by Marge Piercy)

Photo Exhibit

A nationally touring exhibit of 50 framed, museum quality, color photographs coupled with narratives created by students who are welfare eligible, single parents changing their lives through the pathway of higher education.  The installation presents a unique view of poverty from insiders’ perspectives and reframes the cultural (de)valuations of poor single parents vis-à-vis family, work and higher education in the United States today. View the Gallery Guide.