10th annual Future Leaders graduation ceremony celebrates seniors defying the odds
In every graduation season, there are those who have overcome all the odds.
Rarely does it include the entire graduating class.
There was a celebration for students on Wednesday who truly passed the test of life.
Living in the shelter is something neither Erick nor any other high school student should have to think about.
That's the hand they were dealt.
"After the adjustment, you realize it's not that bad and you're open to amazing experiences such as this one," Erick Drayton said.
The special ceremony was held by the city's Department of Social Services.
Kelsa Wardrope received a $2,000 a year college scholarship.
"Despite all the things that have happened in my life I never gave up. Just to never give up going for your dreams and what I want to see in the future," Kelsea Wardrope said.
It's a future her mother could only dream about, coming from Panama.
"To have her going to a college is very important for us since she will be the first one in the family to be graduating from college here in the United States," her mother, Katty Grant, said.
About 100 students in the city's shelter system received laptops and duffel bags of supplies.
Now they are headed to schools like Brown, NYU and Baruch.
"Even though they're experiencing homelessness, they're just like you and me. We want to make sure we help support that," Joslyn Carter, Department of Homeless Services Administrator, said.
Someone who was in their shoes is now an investment banking analyst.
"If you see yourself as homeless and that's a label that you define yourself as it's hard to kind of think outside of that. So I just try to hopefully inspire the students here to just forget about it. Do what you love, learn a lot and then get to a point where it doesn't matter," Adrian Rodriguez, an Investment Banking Associate, said.
The words 'You did it" carry so much more significance when the odds are stacked against you.
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