Jolene Reynolds
Excelsior alumna/Pediatric Nurse

Jolene Reynolds has triumphed over a series of life events that would cause anyone to question his or her place in life. Now, today, Jolene is helping to save lives, as a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse.

Jolene has triumphed over a childhood of repeated abandonment, followed by a personal struggle with substance abuse and emotionally abusive relationships. I became a substance abusing, rebellious runaway, trying for many years to run away from me." She spent time at Excelsior, and graduated from Excelsior High School.

In 1998, when pregnant with her daughter, Jolene decided to change her life and began taking college classes. She graduated with an Associate of Science in Nursing from Glendale Community College in Glendale, Calif. Jolene then became licensed by the state of California as a Registered Nurse.

This February, she graduated from a residency program at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. Jolene also is beginning to work with high-risk adolescents in a violence and gang prevention mentorship program called the Youth Mentoring Connection. "I have to make sense of events that I went through, and my experiences put me in a very unique position to relate and help kids like me." Jolene and her 10-year-old daughter live in Glendale and Jolene is overjoyed to now be an excellent role model for her daughter. Excelsior Youth Center is proud to name Jolene Reynolds, an Excelsior alumna, one of the 2010 Triumphant Women.