This dissertation utilized a qualitative narrative case study method to explore the unknown factors and elements of perseverance in spite of adversity and crisis. The study documented the lives of five African American women in order to describe, understand, and explain the central research question of how and why some first-generation learners persist when faced with multiple risk factors. The study used Fiona MacKinnon-Slaney's 1994 model of Adult Persistence in Learning (APIL) as a framework to examine the personal, environmental, and institutional issues that may affect persistence. The women in this study ranged in age from 33 to 47. Each of the five women attended different postsecondary institutions in the southeastern United States. All were employed full time and were mothers of at least two children. Four of the women were the oldest of the siblings in their family and the fifth woman in this study is the youngest in the family (of her siblings) but the first to attend college. The multiple risk factors to persistence for the women in this study were the death of parents, divorce, health problems, pregnancies, relocation, child care issues, and work stressors. Persistence was paused and delayed in some instances but not halted to never be revisited. This research recognized that the primary reason for the persistence of the five African American women in this study was a sense of responsibility to act as a role model for their children. Influences and encouragement from others was a secondary reason for college continuance. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]