A 21-year-old Georgia student stunned thousands after a photo of her taking a college exam while in labor made its way around the Internet. But the new mother tells PEOPLE that she simply did what she had to do.
"I didn't want to give an excuse," Tommitrise Collins, of Macon, Georgia, tells PEOPLE. "I made sure I just went ahead and did what I had to do, I handled my responsibilities."
She added: "I didn't want to get behind in my work."
Collins says her water broke at around 1 a.m. on Nov. 12 – just one week before she was set to deliver her daughter, Her online psychology test began just hours later at 8 a.m., but she "was hurting really bad by then," she says. "I emailed my teacher to tell her that I was having contractions and that I was in labor and that I'm still going to take the test," the Middle Georgia State University student tells PEOPLE. "It was my decision, she didn't make me do anything."
Collins rushed to the Coliseum Medical Center, and at around 1:30 p.m., approximately 12 hours after her labor began, Collins took the test. She says that during that time, she was not taking any medication, so the "pain was real."
She finished the test in 90 minutes and ultimately ended up with a "B."
Unbeknownst to Collins, her sister, Shanell Brinkley-Chapman, took a picture of her while she was taking the test. Chapman snapped a photo of Collins sitting in the hospital bed with a laptop in front of her.
"I didn't know that she took the picture until after I gave birth," Collins said. "I finally looked on my phone and saw that people were 'liking' something and that [Shanell] tagged me in something.
She added: [Shanell] didn't know it was going to make this big of a deal, but we see where it got us."
But Collins hasn't been too preoccupied about the now-viral photo because after 20 hours of labor, she welcomed her daughter, Tyler Elise. The single mother has also set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to cover college expenses and help with caring for her daughter.
Reference
"I didn't want to give an excuse," Tommitrise Collins, of Macon, Georgia, tells PEOPLE. "I made sure I just went ahead and did what I had to do, I handled my responsibilities."
She added: "I didn't want to get behind in my work."
Collins says her water broke at around 1 a.m. on Nov. 12 – just one week before she was set to deliver her daughter, Her online psychology test began just hours later at 8 a.m., but she "was hurting really bad by then," she says. "I emailed my teacher to tell her that I was having contractions and that I was in labor and that I'm still going to take the test," the Middle Georgia State University student tells PEOPLE. "It was my decision, she didn't make me do anything."
Collins rushed to the Coliseum Medical Center, and at around 1:30 p.m., approximately 12 hours after her labor began, Collins took the test. She says that during that time, she was not taking any medication, so the "pain was real."
She finished the test in 90 minutes and ultimately ended up with a "B."
Unbeknownst to Collins, her sister, Shanell Brinkley-Chapman, took a picture of her while she was taking the test. Chapman snapped a photo of Collins sitting in the hospital bed with a laptop in front of her.
"I didn't know that she took the picture until after I gave birth," Collins said. "I finally looked on my phone and saw that people were 'liking' something and that [Shanell] tagged me in something.
She added: [Shanell] didn't know it was going to make this big of a deal, but we see where it got us."
But Collins hasn't been too preoccupied about the now-viral photo because after 20 hours of labor, she welcomed her daughter, Tyler Elise. The single mother has also set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to cover college expenses and help with caring for her daughter.
Reference
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