Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, a 46-year-old woman from Wisconsin, was teased for much of her life for having an uncommon name, however, she never changed it. This past week, she silenced those trolls when she earned her PhD in higher education leadership from Cardinal Stritch University, after completing her dissertation, “Black names in white classrooms: Teacher behaviors and student. During an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel , Vandyck detailed the backlash she received on account of her moniker, and how she's stronger because of it. "People make such a big deal out of it, I couldn't get away from it," she explains. Despite the blame many placed on her mother for giving her that name, Vandyck credits her for turning her into the powerful, ambitious woman she is today. Some people refused to call Marijuana by her full name and attempted to opt for "Mary" instead, but Vandyck rejected such nicknames. The only time ...
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