Nikki Marzette balances work, parenthood and classes to achieve her dream
Nikki Marzette’s classmates could have focused on any subject for their video storytelling project. They could have chosen a music video, a cooking tutorial or a news package. Instead, her classmates chose to feature her story.
Ask her and she’ll tell you that there’s not a whole lot interesting about her life. She’s just your run-of-the-mill 36-year-old mother of three with a full-time class load and a full-time job who spends her nights doing homework and working on a novel.
“At first, I was really honored that they took interest in my life and wanted to do the story on me,” Marzette said. “I think my life is pretty boring, but I took it as a compliment.
“It was a strange feeling to be followed around by a camera all day, but it felt good to be noticed.”
She calls herself a devoted mother and a hard worker. Both of which seem like an understatement when glancing at her typical weekday schedule.
Her day starts before most of us awake and ends after we’re all asleep. She is up early helping her two oldest children – Jordynn, 13, and Langston, 6 – get dressed, eat breakfast and make the school bus on time. Then, she gets herself and her youngest, Logan, 3, ready for the day.
He has to get to the local Head Start before it opens so that mom can get him signed in and on her way to the Ole Miss campus. There, she’ll spend 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in class. After her last class, she picks up Logan from school and meets the others at home. She spends time helping with homework and getting ready for her shift at Arby’s before passing the baton of parenthood off to her husband when he gets home from work.
When her shift is over, she starts on her homework for the night. If there’s enough time, she writes a scene or a chapter for her novel about a Black woman who creates short films based on urban novels. Then it’s off to bed to get some rest before she does it all over the next day.
To some, that schedule may sound exhausting, and Marzette agrees. But her family fuels Marzette’s desire to be successful. She is not doing this just for herself; she is doing it for them.
“My children motivate me to be the best I can be and the determination I have is because I want to make them proud,” she said.
And Marzette, who is studying journalism with a minor in psychology, is not just getting by in her classes. The Taylor native is a member of the Dean’s List. Her grades are important to her because of all she has been through to get to this point.
She first enrolled at Ole Miss in 2004 but had to drop out when Jordynn was born. She then got married and gave birth to Langston and Logan. During this time, her father was diagnosed with diabetes and had to have both legs removed.
Nikki, from the first day of class, has been one of my best students, from an academic standpoint but even more so as a student leader.
Sam McGlone
Even as she helped her family care for her father, he continued to push her to pursue her dream. His words continued to ring in her head even after he died a few years later. In 2020, she made it official.
“Combining my children’s school schedule with mine was overwhelming, especially when they were out of school and I had classes to attend,” she said. “I had to make arrangements, even sometimes bringing my youngest to class with me.”
Coming back to school at her age and as a mom felt disorienting. She felt out of place among her younger classmates, and that caused her to doubt herself. But her professors – specifically Sam McGlone, Michael Fagans, Ellen Meacham and Kathleen Wickham – encouraged her and worked with her schedule.
“Nikki, from the first day of class, has been one of my best students, from an academic standpoint but even more so as a student leader,” McGlone said. “When Nikki is in class, she makes it very apparent that she cares and wants to learn. All teachers want a classroom full of students like Nikki.
“In her group, Nikki very quickly fell into that leadership role, whether she intended to or not. She took on a producer-director type role all the while her group had decided that she and her family should be the subject of their project.”
She is looking for jobs to showcase her skills, and she is considering going back for her master’s degree in education. But first is graduation.
Walking across the stage at Commencement, Marzette is going to think of her family. Her husband and mother have been two of the biggest influences on her life. Her children are the reason she pushes herself. And she can still hear her father’s voice telling her to not give up on her dream.
“This has truly been a blessing,” she said. “And I’m glad I didn’t try to go anywhere else. Ole Miss is home. It’s one of the most prestigious universities in the South. I am super proud of myself and glad I never gave up.”
And she isn’t the only one proud of her accomplishment.
“My oldest told me the other day, ‘You did it, Mom.’ Yes, I did, baby.”
By Jacob Batte
