Pushing Through, Soaring Ahead

A family tragedy didn’t deter Tyanna Whitehead from making the most of her senior year

About a month before her graduation, Tyanna Whitehead entered a Starbucks in Greensboro wearing a tiny pink swim float around her waist and matching swim goggles on her head. She hobbled on crutches, looking a little nervously around the parking lot. She had sprained her ankle during a soccer game the night before and moved slower than she normally would. She hoped no one from her school saw her in the parking lot.  

Her classmates at Northeast Guilford High were participating in a game called Senior Assassins. It’s a student-organized elimination game where high school seniors use water guns to “tag” assigned targets to win a prize—or bragging rights. As long as she was wearing her float and goggles, she was “Safe.” 

Whitehead has one of those 2,000-watt smiles that’s impossible not to respond to. After graduation, she plans to earn her welding certification and diploma at GTCC. She’s one of few female welding students in the program. She picked it up from her dad because he liked to weld things at home. Once she’s settled into her career as a welder, she wants to start earning a certification to become an obstetric sonographer. Whitehead doesn’t believe she needs to limit her career options to just one field. She intends to complete her training for both at GTCC. Although some colleges expressed interest in recruiting her to play sports, Whitehead remains focused on her intent to attend GTCC. She likes the small campus, attentive faculty and its affordability.   

From the surface, it seems like there’s plenty to smile about. Whitehead’s future appears as bright as her smile. But she will feel the significant loss of an important presence on her graduation day. She has felt it since her senior night football game this past fall. That’s when she found out that her dad—her best friend—had died. Since then, her senior year has been a mixture of grief, personal growth and accepting that life continues and silly things like Senior Assassins can still be fun.  

Cherish Your Parents 

Whitehead doesn’t recall the last time she saw her dad. She doesn’t remember it because she didn’t realize that she needed to or that it would be the last time she would see him. But on the last day he was alive, she texted him on her way home from class at GTCC, asking for lunch money. He sent it and she went home with her lunch. Sometimes he was there when she came home after class, but he wasn’t that day.  

Whitehead, who was a trainer for the boys football team for Northeast, got a call during the game to go to her sister’s house afterwards. That’s when she learned the news that her father had died in an altercation with a neighbor. Her father was unarmed.  

In the months since, Whitehead has accepted the loss and is trying to forgive the person who took his life. She says therapy helps, but there are days when the grief overcomes her. 

“He won’t see me graduate ever. He can’t walk me down the aisle. It’s things like that. And then there’s the daddy daughter things that I can’t do anymore, like fishing,” she says.  

They used to like to fish near Bryan Park. The screensaver photo on his phone was an image of the two of them on their first fishing trip together.  

“I was so little and he never changed that picture,” she says.  

“She and her father were very close. They had a special bond,” says Whitehead’s mother, Kendra. “He was one of her biggest supporters, especially when it came to her welding.” 

It was her dad who got her into welding. Her grandfather was a welding instructor and inspector, so her dad grew up around it.  

“It’s not what it seems like. A lot of people think it’s work, but to me, it’s art,” Whitehead says. 

Her dad always bought her welding helmets.  

“I would break a helmet and he would buy me a new one. He was so excited. Thing was, he would buy the welding helmets that he liked. Like, he bought this race car one and I was like, ‘This is so ugly. Can you just buy a pink one?’ And he was like, ‘No, I want to wear it too.”  

Kendra Whitehead recalls their dump truck rides together. 

“As a small girl she would ride with him a lot of summer nights. They shared a lot of laughter and father daughter moments, like her locking him out of the truck when she was 4-years-old. All he could see was two ponytails and a bright smile glowing back at him. He had to time her button pushing just right, unlocking and locking, to get back in.” 

Whitehead mourns that they won’t have more memories together, but also appreciates her mom so much more now.  

“I try to get a lot of people to understand that they need to cherish their parents a lot more than they do,” she says. “I realize that parents can be uptight and stuff, but that’s their job. I’ve had instances where people around me will say something about their parents. I would do anything to have my dad back and the thought of losing my mom would tear me apart.” 

 

A Source of Strength 

When a family faces a devastating tragedy, it’s hard to know how the children will respond to it. Whitehead’s mother came to rely on her. 

“It was sudden and devastating,” Kendra Whitehead says of her husband’s death. “But in the middle of that pain, Tyanna became a source of strength in ways I didn’t expect from someone her age. Her support showed up in both big and small ways. She was emotionally present not just for herself, but for me and others in our family.” 

Whitehead comforted her mother when she needed it. She helped her younger siblings—6-year-old twins—with their homework, dinner and baths. 

“She also continued to push forward with her own responsibilities when everything else felt uncertain. Her maturity helped anchor our household during a very difficult time,” Kendra Whitehead says.  

She says her daughter’s maturity continues to deepen. She carries herself with a stronger sense of purpose and awareness, Kendra Whitehead says. The bubbly personality remains, but it’s paired with resilience, empathy and a deeper perspective shaped by what she’s been through. 

Not Defined by Her Loss 

Through her grief, Whitehead kept moving forward in the classroom and through sports. She remained active in volleyball, flag football, soccer and as statistician for the boys basketball team.  

“I’m incredibly proud of how she has carried herself through her senior year,” her mom says. “Despite everything, she stayed focused, continued to show up and honored her commitments. That speaks volumes about her character and her determination.”   

Whitehead’s family influence touches many facets of her development. From her career aspirations to how she’s approaching life. She listens to her mom, because “she’s been there and done that,” and she values her advice. 

She developed an interest in obstetric sonography when her mom was pregnant with her siblings and when her older sister was pregnant. Whitehead went to some of their ultrasound appointments, observing the sonographers at work. She was always interested in the medical field, but wasn’t sure nursing was a fit. Whitehead says she’s also interested in studying kinesiology or exercise science at Winston-Salem State University. If all goes according to plan, she could finish all three—welding, sonography and kinesiology—by the time she’s 27. She wants to be established in her careers and financially stable before starting a family.  

Whitehead’s enthusiasm and ambitious plans for her future are a reflection of her indomitable spirit. Her mother says she is more than what she’s been through. 

 

“While her experience is part of her story, it does not define her. She is driven, compassionate and determined, and she continues to grow into a strong young woman,” Kendra Whitehead says.  

 

Gradution 2026Read More Senior Stories