Recent College Grad Inspires All

Overcoming Obstacles and Putting Her Family First

Overcoming Obstacles and Putting Her Family First

Bianca Jeannot graduated this past spring with hundreds of other students from the College of New Rochelle, but in no way is she your typical undergrad.

From the ages of 4 to 10, Bianca and her mother and her two brothers were homeless, bouncing back and forth between shelters. Homelessness was especially challenging for Bianca’s two older brothers: Her eldest brother, Paul, suffered from renal failure and had to use a portable dialysis machine every day, no matter where they were living, whether at a shelter or a friend’s home. Her other brother, Michael, has Down syndrome and had to be constantly supervised.

“It was exhausting,” Bianca said. “It was difficult, because the area has to be very clean and sterile [to do dialysis], which most of the time it wasn’t.” Bianca and her family lived this way until receiving a Section 8 voucher: “Section 8 is what got us out of the shelter system.”

When Bianca was 18, her mother died, leaving Bianca to become the head of her household, caretaker of her brothers, and Section 8 voucher holder. That year, the Jeannots had to renew their lease. “My name was on the Con Ed bill, the phone bill, the Optimum bill…everything was in my name,” she explained. Despite her overwhelming responsibilities, Bianca, who was then in her senior year at Dewitt Clinton High School and applying to colleges, was set on continuing her education.

In addition to being the sole caretaker of herself, her disabled brothers (and her four cats), Bianca worked four jobs while going to the College of New Rochelle. Three jobs were on campus, at three different college offices. Off-campus, she worked for a marketing company.

Yet, she still excelled in school, maintaining a 3.8 GPA and graduating with honors. She also wrote for the school paper and was editor of the school’s literary and art magazine. She founded the college’s Anime Club, which won “Best Program of the Year” two years in a row. She did this, in part, for Paul and Michael: “I knew my brothers would never have the chance that I did in college to be a part of clubs, to be active, to take advantage of every opportunity. So, I was doing it for me, but I was also doing it for them. When I came home, they were my motivation.”

Bianca envisions her immediate future with her partner and brothers, balancing an animal rescue career with writing graphic novels on the side – and she is actively pursuing all those things. “I can do something I love, while coming home and doing something else that I also love with the people I love.”

Photo credit: Bianca Jeannot