After a huge argument with her mother, who wouldn’t allow her to go to a party at her boyfriend’s house, high school sophomore Aressa Verdell Williams swallowed “a new bottle of aspirin, about 40 pills.”
She woke to the voices of her mother and brother having a normal conversation nearby and realized her suicide attempt had failed.
She also realized, she told about 50 AACC students and faculty during a presentation on campus on Feb. 17, that “I could survive what I thought was life-threatening pain. Suffering does not have last forever. I thought I had a second chance.”
Williams, now 80, read poems and told stories from her book, “In Deanwood: A Memoir,” during a Black History Month event, organized by communications professor April Copes.
The book, published in 2025, takes readers through Williams’ life with brief, autobiographical poems about her escapades at each level of schooling, from elementary through college.
Williams, a retired AACC professor, said it took her 10 years to write.
During the 75-minute presentation, Williams talked about the trouble she got into when she signed her mother’s name on her report card–and got caught. She recalled being ostracized by her classmates because she was a student assistant and had special privileges.
She told a story about going to college for free at Howard University, where her father was a professor, and winding up on academic probation.
One of her longest stories was about delivering Girl Scout cookies to a neighbor who was killed later that day. Police detectives came to Williams’ house for an interview.
“The interview lasted about five minutes,” Williams said. “The detectives were kind. They knew I was nervous. They did not see warm urine running down my legs.”
In an interview after her speech, Williams told Campus Current that life is full of ups and downs.
“Every time something bad happens with good people, something good always happens to balance out the negativity,” Williams said. “And as long as you acknowledge yourself, affirm yourself, and appreciate yourself and others, good returns, no matter what. It might look like you failed, but you didn’t. You’ll get through the fire.”
