UNC senior juggles her roles as single mother and student

While her friends are out hitting the bars on Tequila Tuesday, senior biology major Ashley Thrower is at home studying in the company of her 1-year-old daughter, Ava.

“My idea of turning up is taking my daughter to a museum on a Saturday,” she said.

Thrower is a 21-year-old single mother. The Miami native transferred to UNC from Florida State University during her sophomore year. Soon after arriving in Chapel Hill, she started dating a football player who played for UNC in 2012 and whose name Thrower wishes to remain anonymous. He transferred to play at a school in the Midwest for the 2013 season.

Thrower stayed in Chapel Hill that summer — she was accepted into the Medical Education Development Program, a two-month crash course of selected medical school curriculum offered to undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds.

A few weeks into the program, Thrower started feeling sick.

“My friend got me a pregnancy test and, sure enough, it said I was a pregnant,” she said. “I just got into this amazing program, my ticket to medical school, and I blew it.”

On top of the anxiety of being 19 and pregnant, Thrower started experiencing severe morning sickness, landing her in the hospital multiple times over the course of the summer.

“She would be in the bathroom throwing up and come back to class, take a test and score in the 80s or 90s,” said Cedric Bright, director of the MED program. “You just can never underestimate the determination a dream gives somebody, and she is the epitome of that.”

Thrower barely got a summer vacation that year — after the program ended in late July, Thrower moved into Baity Hill Student Family Housing by August. After a lot of thinking, Thrower decided she was going to keep the baby.

She was determined not to let her pregnancy get in the way of her medical school dreams. She took 18 credit hours that semester.

“It was pure hell. As the months rolled by, I got bigger and bigger, obviously. It was pretty embarrassing. I would walk into classes like ‘cellular and developmental biology’ and people would look at me like I didn’t belong,” she said. “Around finals, I was so big that I couldn’t put the desk flap down, so I took my exams at a table in the front of the room facing the rest of my class.”

Thrower made it through exams and into spring semester. By the end of January, she was getting contractions multiple times a day.

One day while sitting in analytical chemistry, the pain became unbearable.

“After class, I took the U bus to the Women’s Hospital,” she said. “They checked me, and it turns out I was 3 centimeters dilated, so I didn’t even get a chance to go home and grab my bag.”

Thrower’s friend, senior Adriann Bennett, came to the hospital soon after to bring her suitcase. Because Thrower’s family was too far away to accompany her during the birth, Bennett offered to stay with her.

“But I told her to go home to take notes for me the next day in (biochemistry) class because I didn’t want to miss anything,” Thrower said.

Thrower delivered Ava the next morning and spent the remainder of the week recovering in the hospital. Ava’s paternal grandmother — Thrower’s ex-boyfriend’s mother — stayed in Chapel Hill for the next few weeks to assist with taking care of the newborn.

One week later, Thrower was back in class, ready to finish off her semester strongly.

“She took the next exam on schedule on Feb. 25, and she aced it,” said James Jorgenson, Thrower’s analytical chemistry professor. “Her work ethic is incredible.”

She got a 100 on her exam three weeks after giving birth.

Thrower wakes up around 5 a.m. every morning. She catches up on homework and showers before waking up Ava around 6:45 a.m. The two are ready to leave the house a little after 7 a.m..

“There are times when I’ll get to the car and as soon as I sit her in, she poops in her pants. So I have to go back upstairs to take care of her, and my whole day is thrown off,” Thrower said. “There are a lot of curveballs.”

Thrower keeps her car parked at Ava’s day care and catches a bus to campus. She has a full day of classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and works in a lab the other three days of the week.

“When I have to wake up at 3 a.m. just to finish my homework, I don’t care. It’s all for her,” she said. “I try not to complain about my situation. I’ve never thought about dropping out of UNC because I have so many friends and so much support from the people around me that it’s not an option.”

Thrower will complete her biology degree in May and is expected to graduate in December. She will be applying to medical school in the summer.

In addition to her friends and mentors, Thrower said she is thankful for the help she’s received from the University.

“I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it weren’t for the support of the University,” Thrower said.

In addition to her professors who have worked around her schedule constraints, the University provides money to cover Ava’s day care costs through the Carolina Covenant scholarship program. “Besides my daughter, this school is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Being a single mother has meant making a lot of sacrifices. She watched her peers rush Franklin from her apartment window after the men’s basketball team beat Duke last year, wishing she could have been part of the crowd.

But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I thought my life was over,” she said. “But really, my life has just begun.”

arts@dailytarheel.com