Congratulations are in order for the “Hot Girl” coach Megan Thee Stallion.
The 26-year-old rapper announced Monday via Instagram that she will be graduating college this year.
“2021 finna graduate collegeeee 😛 taking my graduation pics today 😭” she wrote. “I can’t wait for y’all to see.”
The “Hot Girl Summer” rapper will be earning her bachelor’s degree in health administration from Texas Southern University where she was taking part-time online courses.
The Grammy-winning artist made the announcement with a bedazzled cap that reads “Real hot girl s—” and nails donned in her school’s colors with one hand reading “TSU” and the other “2021”.
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This degree will undoubtedly be special to Megan. Last year she spoke about wanting to honor her late mother Holly Thomas, who died of brain cancer in 2019. Brain cancer typically affects whites more than Blacks and men more than women.
“I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed. I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed,” Megan says. “My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school. I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.”
Recently, Megan spoke with Tariji P. Henson on her show “Peace of Mind with Taraji” about the importance of therapy and finding guidance and how it has kept her going despite the obstacles that were thrown her way.
“As a Black person, and when you think of therapy you think of ‘Oh my gosh, I’m weak,’ you think of medication, and you just think the worst,” Megan explains adding that she prays often and keeps her mom’s voice close. “That’s kind of what you see on TV too; like, therapy wasn’t even presented in the media as something that was good. Now it’s becoming safe to say, ‘Alright now, there’s a little too much going on. Somebody help me.’ “
Shortly after her mother’s death, she encouraged her fans to keep going despite any challenges they may face.
RELATED: Meagan The Stallion Shot Multiple Times, “Grateful to be Alive”
“My college experience has been a roller coaster! I started at PV went to some community colleges in between and I’m ending at TSU,” she shared on Twitter at the time. “Don’t get discouraged! You can chase your dreams and your education at the same time .”
Megan says growing up with independent and hardworking people in her life was her driving force to continue her education in the midst of her thriving rap career, which was also inspired by her mother who used to rap under the name”Holly-wood”.
“I literally watched my mom and my grandmother get up and go to work every single day. My big mama owned three houses in South Park [Houston]. She was
going hard, working to provide for our family, so I’ve always seen her drive.”
The rapper has had no shortage of death and setbacks in her life, but that is precisely why her words of encouragement have resonated with her fans, especially those in college as well.
“I’ve always seen everybody in my life be independent,” she recalls. “My daddy passed away when I was 15, so my mama was still going hard taking care of us. If we were going through money problems, my mother and my two [maternal] grandmothers always made sure I didn’t know. We could’ve been struggling, but they made it work. I’ve always seen strong women making it work, so I’ve always wanted to have that same drive the women in my family have. I know I get a lot of my strength from my mother and both of my grandmothers.”
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It was that same mentality of hard work and independence that Megan used to juggle school and her rising rap career. The rapper recalls finishing her schoolwork on the way to a show, after a show or even getting it done in the morning so that she could be a rapper at night.
“If I am somebody’s role model, I want them to take away that you can still go to school, you can still pursue your dreams and you should still be you, no matter what the circumstances are,” Megan shares. “If that’s what they’re taking away from me, then I feel like I’m doing a good job.”
With this degree, Megan, who has dominated the typically male-dominated rap industry, could do the same thing in the healthcare industry and make change for the many Black women that often get shut out of these roles. According to a study from the Leverage Network, an organization that promotes Black leadership, people of color make up only 13 percent of healthcare boards. Black women only make up 3 percent.
It’s no question that the superstar will achieve success on and off the mic. Upon graduating Megan already has big plans to help her classmates land their first job post-graduation.
“I really wanted to be an administrator over a hospital, but I knew I still wanted to be Megan Thee Stallion. I was like, ‘What can I do?'” she told PEOPLE in June 2020. “I was like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna open an assisted-living facility and use the money that I make from rapping to open it. Then I’m gonna let my classmates run it.”
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