How Africa News
An organization called Students Rising Above (SRA) was recently profiled by CBS Oakland (California). SRA helps low-income students who are products of the public school system enrich their lives through academic achievement.
During the CBS Oakland report, a special SRA participant was interviewed exclusively about a very compelling story. This story unveiled the amazing life of Elexis Webster (pictured left), 17. Webster is a triumphant SRA junior at a Bay Area high school with a 4.1 GPA. The studious young lady is definitely on her way to college.
However, Webster story of success is anything but average. The level of adversity Webster had to live through on her way to where she is today is not comparable to the typical SRA participant. In the essay she wrote during the SRA application process, Webster wrote about some life-threatening circumstances.
“As a 17-year-old junior with a 4.1 GPA, many wouldn’t expect me to have such a rough life,” Webster wrote.
“I grew up on the streets with an abusive drug addict for a mother, along with an older brother who molested me countless times, plus constant sickness. My life wasn’t a life, it was a war zone,” she continued.
The dangerous and unstable environment Webster was raised in eventually led to her being homeless at a very young age. When she was just 14, she was discovered by police along with her sister in an abandoned car. The two girls ended up in a foster home with a woman Webster affectionately calls “Mema.”
In her interview with CBS, Webster spoke very highly of her foster care mother and shared that her quality of life has tremendously improved.
“When I started to allow Mema to help me and allow Mema to love me and be there for me, it made it much easier. I was, like, okay this is how a family should be. This is how it should be,” Webster told CBS.
Webster says that she wants to eventually graduate high school with at least a 4.0 GPA and get accepted into a university. The limit is certainly past the sky for her.
“I see success, I see happiness, and I see peace,” she added.
Source: www.cbsnews.com
