‘Don’t Let Life Get in the Way of You Succeeding’: Manor College Graduate Uses Sister’s Death as Motivation to Keep Going

Michelle Henderson (Philadelphia/Commonwealth Charter CPA) graduates from Manor College with her Associate’s Degree in Practical Nursing.

Michelle Henderson sat on the phone in silence. All she could reply to her younger sister was, “You’re joking right?”

She had to be. Who jokes about someone dying, anyway? Henderson got mad at her sister, hung up the phone and went back to her Practical Nursing classes at Manor College.

Henderson’s sister tried calling a few more times and sent some texts, but Henderson never responded. It wasn’t until Henderson’s mother called later that night. Tamia Gordon, Henderson’s older sister, was shot and killed on September 30, 2025.

“Even then, I thought everyone was lying,” Henderson said. “I just kept thinking, ‘You all are just playing a really cruel prank.’ It didn’t sink in until I got to the funeral.”

Gordon was the sister that Henderson called for everything. She had a calm demeanor and held the answers for everything: How do I do my taxes? How do you cook this meal? Why is my car making this beeping noise?

“She always had everything under control,” Gordon said. “I felt like she was so wise. Anything I needed to know, she had the answers.”

After the funeral, Henderson wanted to retreat into herself. The grief only added to the stressors of the final semester in Practical Nursing. Even though she’d be graduating from the program in a matter of weeks, she didn’t think she could finish the program.

“You see this finish line, but as fast as you’re running, it felt like it was getting further away,” Henderson said.

Henderson responded with persistence. In nursing, she’d have to leave her problems at the door in order to treat sick and tired patients with compassion and care. She translated that attitude to the classroom.

“I felt like that kept me going,” Henderson said. “If there was room to stay at home, I wouldn’t have come back to class at all. I had to keep getting up, even when things pushed me down.”

Gordon became her inspiration.

“Even from a young age, Tamia was always doing something,” Hendersons said. “No matter how tiring life got, she wanted to continue, so I wanted to continue.”

All the while, Henderson received support from her professors, including Dr. Regina Wright, the head of Manor College’s Practical Nursing program.

“Michelle managed to stay attentive, engaged each class period and kept her positive attitude despite the loss of her sibling,” Wright said. “She was a role model for professionalism and collegiality with her peers despite her personal grief.”

In December, Henderson graduated from the Practical Nursing program at Manor College. She is one of 14 graduating students in Manor’s inaugural Practical Nursing cohort. She’ll walk across the Commencement stage to receive her diploma in May.

Since graduating, she’s taken a job working in a nursing home caring for patients. She hopes to take the NCLEX next month.

“Don’t let life get in the way of you succeeding,” Henderson said. “It sounds easier than it really is. Things happen. You don’t always know how to handle it, but you still have to show up and do what you do. But the most important thing is to talk to other people in your life – professors, nurses, whoever – because that can be your biggest motivator. Knowing you’re not alone can help you through a lot.”