Nationwide — Ray Curtis Petty Jr., who is from Albany, Georgia, has successfully become the first lawyer in his family after overcoming several doubts and obstacles. A YouTube video showing his mother’s reaction to him passing the bar exam has since gone viral.

Ray’s experience through law school wasn’t easy though. As a child, he said many people didn’t believe in him including some of his teachers who insisted that he should be in special education classes.

Still, he went on to earn his first degree at Albany State University. However, when he applied to various law schools, he once again face a lot of discrimination. Finally, though, he was accepted to Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he went on to be elected as President of the Student Bar Association. While studying, he also worked as a paralegal in the United States Air Force Reserves.

In 2020, he was just about to complete his law studies when he lost his sister who died of sickle cell anemia. He had to deal with this heartbreaking loss while taking five classes in his last semester and performing his military duties.

Despite all that, he still graduated as the valedictory speaker of his law class. He then took the bar exam but failed it on his first attempt.

He did not let that stop him and he started studying again. When he received his exam results for the second time, he and his family were overjoyed.

Ray says that he could not have achieved his goal of becoming a lawyer if not for the support of his family. He hopes that his story can serve as an inspiration to others too.

“I want to be a, just a pillar in my community, no matter where God may lead me, and I want to be able to do the will of God and I want to be able to serve his people. It’s not about me at all, just being in this profession this is a profession of servitude,” Petty told WALB.