Robyn Pepion came to United Tribes Technical College with nothing but a baby in her arms. She had left her home in Browning, Mont., and an abusive relationship to start over.

Three years later, the 24-year-old will graduate with 88 classmates Friday with a degree from the injury prevention program. The last educational degree Pepion earned was from Head Start.

"I didn't graduate from high school," she said. "This feels so good. I'm doing it on my own. It's hard, but I'm doing it."

But the journey has been a long one, she said.

Before Pepion came to Bismarck, she had everything she needed. She lived in the mountains with her boyfriend, whose parents had money. His parents were buying them a new Tahoe. Every material thing she needed, she had. Things looked good on the outside. But within the walls of their home, things weren't so good.

Pepion was hooked in an abusive relationship. She wasn't allowed to leave the house, and she ended up in the hospital multiple times because of the beatings, she said. The breaking point came when her boyfriend hit her infant son while she was burping him.

She reconnected with relatives, who were from North Dakota. They brought her back with them, and she enrolled at UTTC. The college put her in a single dorm, and she found monetary support for college from her tribe. She started in the nursing program and played on the basketball team.

"I felt free," she said. "Before that I wasn't free. I was so controlled. You get so dependent on that person. Both people are addicted. I felt the adjustment."

She never fully made the adjustment. Instead, she jumped into another relationship. And once again, she was abused, she said. The relationship lasted almost two years.

Meanwhile, she fell out of the nursing program and decided to focus on general course work her second year. By the end of the year, her relationship with her boyfriend was falling apart. Both were kicked out of school. With no where to go, Pepion took her son back to Montana. She tried to get into a school but couldn't. With two years of college under her belt, she moved back to UTTC to get her degree.

"There were many people who believed in me," she said. "People who supported me, supported me 100 percent."

The college's injury prevention program seemed like the perfect fit. Through the program, Pepion learned why car accidents, suicide, alcohol abuse and domestic violence happen more frequently on reservations. And she learned ways to break the cycle.

She speaks to groups about domestic violence. She shares some of her story but focuses mostly on statistics. Pepion said it's still too hard to talk in-depth about what she has gone through. But some day she hopes to be able to share her entire story and help others.

"I want to go back and help my people," she said. "It's just putting yourself out there - they want to hear it, and it gives them a lot of hope."

In the fall, Pepion plans to enroll in the nursing program at the University of Mary. She isn't sure how she will integrate the two degrees after college, but she knows somehow, she will help other abuse victims.

"There is something a lot bigger out there that I can do for my people and not just my tribe," she said.

(Reach reporter Sheena Dooley at 250-8225 or sheenadooley@ndonline.com.)