MOM LIFE
Meet Tianna Hawkins
BY PJ FEINSTEIN
What do you love about your job?
I love the fact that I’m able to wake up every
day and do something I love. It doesn’t
really feel like a job. I get paid to play with
a basketball! The grind is always tough but
it’s worthwhile just to see the results when
you’re playing out there on the court.

The regular season runs
May through September, so
it’s coming up soon. How
have you been keeping busy
during the off-season?
I’ve been working out. Also, I’ve been doing
an apprenticeship with Microsoft to help
build my resume for life after basketball.

I want to go into the cybersecurity world.

Right now I’ve been working on software
engineering, which includes programming,
coding and stuff like that. Normally what I’ll
do is send my son to day care in the morn-
ing, then I’ll go train and then it’s all Micro-
soft in the afternoon.

Forward, Washington Mystics
OCCUPATION: LIVES:
Upper Marlboro, MD
WORKS: Congress Heights, DC
CHILD: Emanuel, 4
How will your schedule change
once the season starts again?
Of course, Microsoft won’t be there. It’ll be
like any other day: I wake up in the morning,
take my son to day care and go straight to
practice. Practice for a little bit, and then by
the time I finish and get myself together, I’ll
go pick him up from day care.

What’s something that
makes juggling all of your
priorities a little easier?
I think the easiest thing is that I have him
to motivate me. He’s my biggest motivator
because I’m no longer living for myself;
I’m living for him now. And I know that I
have to make sure that I have everything in
order, all my business in order, to give him
the life that I didn’t have growing up and to
put him in a position to become a success-
ful young boy and grow into a successful
young man.

What’s something that you and
your son love to do together?
We just love to get together. We do a lot
of bonding over dinner, and we’ll go out to
some of the museums and some of the local
sporting events in the area. I mean, it’s never
a dull moment! He likes the National Build-
ing Museum because it’s interactive. He can
go and build stuff. He’s a fan of the Redskins.

He knows football, he likes football. And I
would say he’s definitely a fan of mine!
What are five things that
you can’t live without?
My phone, music, family, my Carmex
chapstick and my phone again!
What would you do if you had
one hour without any
responsibilities? What do you love about
I would be on an island somewhere listening
being a mom?
Just being able to watch him grow up. Every to music by some type of water. When I’m
day he’s doing something new, and the most stressed out I like to just be near water. n
rewarding thing ever is being able to watch
your creation and help build that. He’s a Read our extended interview with Tianna
smart little boy, and it’s pretty cool.

Hawkins at WashingtonFAMILY.com.

Do you know a local mom or dad in our readership area who
juggles multiple priorities and manages to make a positive
impact in her/his community while doing so? Nominate her or
him as a subject of our Mom/Dad Life column by filling out an
entry form on WashingtonFAMILY.com/feedback.

46 Washington FAMILY APRIL 2020