HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Mark and Tawana Ferguson can't help but give advice to their daughter.
"Good foundation helps you in the long run."
That's just one of the nuggets given to their daughter while they visited her at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian.
Mark and Tawana Ferguson
But they'll also tell you Jordyn doesn't need to be told how hard work can pay off.
In August, Jordyn was awarded a total of $1,000 in book scholarships from the KLM Scholarship Foundation.
"I was like wow!” Jordyn said upon learning she was awarded the scholarship. “I didn't think I would get it. I mean, I know that I had the grades and everything, but just the fact that I was applying for a community college I didn't think I would get it."
Founded in 2002, the mission of KLM has been to promote the value of higher education and provide book scholarships to students applying at four-year colleges. Jordyn received the group's inaugural community college scholarship.
"Of course, it validates the importance of hard work and solidifies that it reinforces what we tried to instill and what her grandmother tried to instill as a teacher," Mark said.
Jordyn's Grandmother
Her grandmother passed away, but Jordyn said she's still trying to make her proud.
"She taught me to be stubborn," Jordyn said. " And go for what I believe was right. She was really sweet.”
Jordyn also wants to follow in her mom's footsteps.
Tawana Ferguson works for the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Jordyn said she planned to use her degree for a career in helping young people stay out of trouble.
Jordyn's Mom
"I just want to help people," she said. " There's so many bad things going on in the world right now and I just want to be able to take that step, especially with the youth, and nip it in the bud."
She'll try and pass on the advice she's learned to build better lives... and Build Better Minds.
