From the Slums to Harvard <08/06>

From the Slums to Harvard     A story of an 18-year-old teenager is bringing the world to tears. The story is about Khadijah Williams. From the outside, she’s just a typical teenager. When she walks past the hall full of students laughing and gossiping, there’s nothing that differentiates her from others. Sadly, and surprisingly there are many underlying differences. First, she’s known as the wonder girl. The girl who is genius in the most painful of subjects: physics and chemistry. She is the new Harvard girl. At an early age, Khadijah understood the power of test scores. She was placed in the first class category on a state exam. She was marked as a gifted student with the mind to succeed if she wanted to. There was one problem. She was living a life of poverty with her mother. Khadijah and her mother didn’t have a home. They had to hunt for their next meal in the streets, and always needed to find a secure place to sleep. She attended 12 schools in 12 years, and slept in garbage bags to keep warm. The gifted girl was forced to quit after only half of fourth grade, half of fifth and to skip the entire sixth grade. Whenever shelters closed down or the small bit of money ran out, she and her mother had to pack what little they owned and board buses to find another place to survive. Surprisingly, Khadijah pushed herself to enter each school’s gifted program. She studied hard. She always read newspapers and novels to escape her mind from the chaos and the sour smell of homelessness. When she made it into the 10th grade, she knew she had to make a change in her life. And this time, it was all up to her. She reached out to organizations and mentors in the community. With their help she enrolled in summer community college programs, and even received access to computers and scholarship applications. She learned to network with people who could support her furthering her education. Soon enough, she entered Jefferson High School in L.A., and this time she decided to stay put, regardless of where her mother moved. Keep in mind that we are talking about a homeless girl here. She woke up at 4 a.m. and studied hard until 11 p.m. She kept her grade point average at the highest level while fully participating in the school debate team and track and field team. Did she look homeless? No. None of her peers knew she was homeless. Khadijah kept her dignity, and she always came to school clean and in clean clothes. Her clothes weren’t fancy or trendy. But, she was clean and neat. After spending her junior and senior years at Jefferson High she was able to receive strong letters of recommendation from her teachers to send to colleges. She was accepted to more than 2 universities in the U.S. They were Brown and Columbia. Where did she decide to go? It was Harvard, and it was with a full scholarship. When asked if she ever complained about her life or blamed her mother for the harsh circumstances, Khadijah answers that she did the best she could. Khadijah was born to a 14-year-old mother. Supporting a baby was too much for the young woman, and she had to drop out of school. Instead of criticizing her mother, Khadijah says she was inspired her to learn and succeed.   ***Discussion Questions 1. Have you ever complained about your situation you thought was worse than others’? What did you envy the most? 2. In your life, have you ever felt proud of yourself for going through a tough time? Share your story. 3. Are there certain thoughts or experiences that you think of whenever you are having a hard time in order to be strong? 4. Who or what gives you the most energy in your life right now? 5. Whenever you feel sad or depressed, what kind of music do you listen to? Or are there your own ways of cheering up? 6. How do you think you would approach life if you had to live on the streets?  Would you be optimistic or pessimistic? 7. When a problem arises what are some of the things you do to resolve those problems?