In just a few short years, Megan Thee Stallion has become a global chart-topping phenomenon and one of the most sought-after rappers in the industry. Her massive success in the rap industry hasn't stopped her from keeping her nose in the books, though.

On Friday, she told People that she has decided to stay in school at Texas Southern University where she was pursuing her bachelor’s degree in health administration before the fame hit.

She made the decision to stay in school part-time as a way to honor her mother, Holly Thomas, who died from brain cancer in March 2019.

“I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed,” she said.

“I want my big mama to be proud. My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school. I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today. I literally watched my mom and my grandmother get up and go to work every single day. My big mama owned three houses in South Park [Houston]. She was going hard, working to provide for our family, so I’ve always seen her drive,” she said in the interview.

Megan's career hasn't stopped her from studying, and she said she somehow finds time between shows and recording to study and complete assignments. She joked that she has to finish her schoolwork in the morning so she can "be a rapper at night."

The Houston rapper also spoke at length about her initial goal of becoming a hospital administrator and how things have changed since her music career exploded. When asked what she would do now, Megan explained that she plans to open an assisted-living facility and let her Texas Southern University classmates run it.

She took time out of the interview to encourage her fellow classmates who may be struggling with fears about their GPA, reminding them that it didn't really matter as long as they got their degree and worked hard in the real world.

In March 2019, the superstar rapper lost both her mother and her great-grandmother, making it hard for her to fully celebrate the massive chart success of songs like “Hot Girl Summer" and "Big Ole Freak" or her new deal with Roc Nation.

Her father died when she was just a teenager, and she has spoken extensively about how the women in her life helped guide her through the struggles she has faced on her path to success. During an interview on ESPN's First Take, she spoke about how her mother's work in the studio was the catalyst that pushed her to want to rap.

“I’ve always seen everybody in my life be independent. My daddy passed away when I was 15, so my mama was still going hard taking care of us. If we were going through money problems, my mother and my two [maternal] grandmothers always made sure I didn’t know. We could’ve been struggling, but they made it work. I’ve always seen strong women making it work, so I’ve always wanted to have that same drive the women in my family have. I know I get a lot of my strength from my mother and both of my grandmothers,” she told People.

In now-deleted Instagram posts over the holidays, Megan spoke about how difficult it was to spend her first Christmas without her mother, who she has cited in dozens of interviews as her inspiration for becoming a rapper.

“Although all these positive things have been happening to me, and I’ve been trying to do good, been trying to keep a smile on my face, stay strong, to stay happy for me and my other grandmother and the rest of my family, it's pretty hard. This is the first Christmas that I’m [spending] without them, and I just wanted to give some hope to my hotties that might be going through something too,” the rapper said.

“I just wanted to spread some positivity and tell y'all to stay positive, stay kind through your hard times because the pain doesn’t last forever. Try not to get in a dark place,” she added. “Always try to be kind to others because you never know what they’re going through,” she said in December.

Holly-Thomas

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