Meet Nikole Alkire

04/04/23 • 24 min

Nicole Alkire Grady always excelled in athletics and academics at Standing Rock High School in North Dakota. But being a survivor of childhood sexual abuse meant Nicole turned to dating, and eventually alcohol, to cope with the trauma. In high school, she became a mother, and worked hard to graduate – leaning on the support of her family and especially her mother. She was determined to go to college, and tried several options to find a place with the right support for her growing family. She eventually found help for her substance abuse, and reconnected with her Lakota values, and is pursuing a legal career. Reporter Ambriehl Crutchfield follows Nicole’s journey in higher education.

Anyone affected by sexual assault, whether it happened to you or someone you care about, can find support on the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.

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You can read the episode transcript here.

For more information on 1 in 5, click here.

Anyone affected by sexual assault, whether it happened to you or someone you care about, can find support on the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.

Download and share the resource guide based on this episode here.

You can read the episode transcript here.

For more information on 1 in 5, click here.

Previous Episode

Learn About Generation Hope

Today, Nicole Lynn Lewis is an accomplished author, CEO, and mother of five. But she didn’t always feel a sense of stability and pride. She was raised to prioritize her education and had been accepted into several colleges when she learned that she was pregnant. When she arrived on campus with her three-month old daughter, she instantly felt out of place and didn’t know who to turn to for help. Her feelings of isolation, financial stress, and a lack of community later inspired Nicole to create her nonprofit, Generation Hope, that supports the mental health journeys of student-parents. In this episode, reporter Sophia Fox-Sowell talks with Nicole about her organization and how its two-generational approach is helping other parents achieve educational success.

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You can read the episode transcript here.

For more information on 1 in 5, click here.

Next Episode

Meet Lourdes Grijalva

As a child of immigrants, Lourdes saw the efforts her hard-working parents made to give her a memorable childhood, and how they always stressed the importance of education. Then, in high school, Lourdes became pregnant, and the birth of her daughter inspired her aspirations for higher education, leading her to a career in nursing. As a single mother and nursing assistant, Lourdes was spending all of her time caretaking—at work and at home—and found herself living paycheck to paycheck. But Lourdes’ hard work didn’t go unnoticed, and with encouragement from her peers, she enrolled in a nursing program at her local community college. Local El Paso groups like Project ARRIBA and Workforce Borderplex gave Lourdes the training, resources, and financial support she needed to stay the course. Reporter Andrea Henderson follows Lourdes’ higher education journey from the delivery room to the graduation stage.

Download and share the resource guide based on this episode here.

You can read the episode transcript here.

For more information on 1 in 5, click here.