Raeanna Connor of White Earth Tribal and Community College

Raeanna Connor graduated from White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC) with her AA degree in the spring of 2025, an accomplishment that is made more impressive given the obstacles she faced in her final year.

During the winter of 2023, Raeanna’s unborn child was diagnosed with spina bifida while in utero. Mother and baby underwent open fetal surgery at the Mayo Clinic to repair the birth defect. They spent two weeks in the hospital before being allowed to return home. Raeanna carried the baby for another 13 weeks and in May 2024, her daughter was born full-term and completely healthy.

“To say the situation was terrifying would be an understatement,” says Raeanna. “The happiest moments of my life were finding out that my daughter was healthy and safe after surgery and hearing her cry for the first time.”

Through it all, Raeanna stayed in school and did the best she could to finish out the spring term of 2024. She continued through the summer term, literally doing homework from her hospital bed after delivering her daughter. With her baby on her hip, she stuck to her schoolwork and finished fall term with a 4.0 GPA.

Raeanna says that the secret to her college success is staying consistent. “Even if it’s writing one sentence of an essay at a time, any amount of work done is better than no work done at all.” She defines success by how happy you are. “Money and luxuries don’t mean much if you’re not happy with who you are.”

When asked why she chose WETCC, Raeanna says it’s because she loves how close-knit everyone is, and that campus feels very much like family. She has remained part of the campus family, taking a job with WETCC Community Extension. She plans to continue her education online through Minnesota State University Moorhead’s criminal justice program.