We often hold the keys to very complicated life issues in our very hands. But most of us are painfully unaware that our smarts, our skills, our creative abilities, our love, our personality, are more transformative than some external event we keep waiting to happen.

Take Khadijah Williams. Even while moving from shelter to shelter with her mother, she knew she could rely on her brains to break the vicious cycle she and her family were stuck in:

Because the family moved around so frequently, Williams never had the chance to stay at one school for long. Over the course of 12 years, she attended 12 different schools, often leaving in the middle of a term when a homeless shelter shut down or refused to accommodate the family. But as early as third grade, when Williams placed in the top percentile on a state exam, she realized that she had a gift. Her brain would be her ticket out of the slums, and she didn’t want to squander the opportunity.

As a high school student, Williams began to reach out to local educational groups that could provide her with resources like a quiet study space, free summer classes, and networking opportunities. They helped her learn about the college application process, so that by the time Williams started her junior year at Jefferson High School in Orange County, she was determined to stay there and make the most of her academic career.

So, for the last two years of high school, Williams woke up at 4 AM every morning to take a bus to school, and took part in the Academic Decathlon, the debate team, and the track and field team after a long day of classes, finally returning to her shelter at 11 PM at night. After her mother and sister left town, she was invited to move in with a family who volunteered for South Central Scholars, a local nonprofit group. Despite the stresses of her lifestyle, she managed to graduate fourth in her class.

Now, with a full scholarship to Harvard, Williams hopes to become an education attorney and use her life experiences to help other underprivileged students.

You go, girl!

Source: LA Times