MACON, Ga. — A Georgia graduate went from homeless to top of the class, becoming valedictorian of her high school.
Kennedy Randall faced many challenges on her journey to graduation, including living in a homeless shelter while she was going to school, WMAZ reported.
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“We stayed at the Salvation Army and I was in 10th grade when I was homeless,” she said. “I wanted to be able to stay afloat in school.”
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Her parents divorced when she was younger. She and her mother moved to Savannah, and later, back to Macon. At one point they lived with 11 other people at her grandmother’s house.
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“None of our bills were ever paid, so even with so many people around me, I didn’t have any privacy, and I could barely keep up my hygiene because we didn’t have any hot water and we didn’t have any lights, so I would have to get used to boiling my bath water,” she said.
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In addition to the highest grade-point average in her class, Randall graduated Northeast High School with the highest SAT scores too. She plans to attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she was given a full scholarship.
“No matter where you come from or how you grew up, it’s not about your environment,” Randall said. “It’s about how you react to it and your actions despite your circumstances.”