 A two-year stint at Hillman College ends with Denise wishing to see what she can accomplish on her own, which leads her to Africa as a photographer's assistant.While there, she meets and marries Navy Lt. Martin Kendall, and also becomes stepmother to Martin's three-year-old daughter Olivia, his child from a previous marriage.Denise eventually decides to become a special education teacher and makes arrangements to attend Medgar Evers College to this effect, but that idea does not work out as Denise eventually leaves New York again when Martin is posted to Singapore on a long-term assignment.