Professor Takes Care Of Student’s Baby While Teaching Class As She Couldn’t Find A Babysitter
A professor in health sciences went far beyond his usual responsibilities in a truly heartwarming moment at Lincoln University.
Dr. Aqeel Dix did not want one of his students, Imani Lamarr, to miss class because she was unable to find someone to care for her newborn son, Christopher. She had already gone through a lot as she gave birth prematurely, after which her child had to spend months in the neonatal intensive care unit.
In an interview with 6abc Action News, the mother said:
“It was really hard. Every day going to the hospital, seeing him and not being able to help him, it was hard.”
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Due to the circumstances, Imani needed some time off from campus but still had to balance between her motherly duties and her studies. At one point, she had gone through a critical moment after telling the professor that she would have to skip classes because of her situation.
“No.’ He told me no. And I was just looking at him like, no I can’t miss class? I don’t have nobody to watch my baby,” Imani said.
Dr. Dix went on to tell Imani:
“I’m not going to have one of my students miss my class because they have no one to watch their child. That’s just not an option for me.”
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So the professor told the young mother to bring her baby to class, and he would make sure she could study without needing to worry about a thing.
“That’s my character,” he said. “I don’t mind helping my students wherever they need me.”
Dr. Dix’s touching response to his student’s struggle meant the world to her. Seeing her baby peacefully sitting in the professor’s embrace gave her the peace she needed to focus on her studies at HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).
“I’ve always wanted to go to an HBCU. So, I decided what’s better than the first, so I chose Lincoln,” she said.
Watch the heartwarming moment by clicking below.
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Seeing Christopher being taken care of by Dr. Dix gave Imani a new sense of hope.
“I never thought that it would come to that, and to have somebody who’s there for me… who really cares and genuinely wants to me finish and finish strong, it meant a lot,” she said.
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More than a year and a half has gone by since the heartwarming moment took place in the professor’s classroom. The now-21-year-old Imani is on her way towards graduation and she will never forget the kindness Dr. Dix showed to her and her baby boy.
“You really don’t understand how much this meant to me,” Imani said.
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