A Louisiana highschool senior experiencing homelessness lately graduated on the high of his class with the highest-earned GPA.
Elijah Hogan, 19, was named valedictorian of Walter L. Cohen Excessive Faculty in New Orleans and graduated Could 24 with a 3.93 GPA, he advised CNN.
Hogan, who turned homeless a yr and a half in the past, says he was in disbelief when he realized of his educational achievement.
“I believed they have been mistaking me for another person, however once I checked out it and I used to be proven proof that it was me, I used to be in awe, like, I used to be jaw dropped,” mentioned Hogan, who was born in New Orleans and raised principally in Houston.
Hogan was one in all 4 Black male college students who achieved valedictorian standing at their New Orleans faculties this spring, CNN affiliate WDSU reported.
Hogan, who beforehand lived along with his grandmother since he was 11, says he turned homeless after the lease on his grandmother’s home expired when the house owner determined to promote the property.
He and his grandmother got 30 days to vacate the home, based on Hogan.
“From there, I made the manager choice to stay alone to lighten my grandmother’s burden,” Hogan advised CNN.
Whereas his grandmother went to stay in a care residence for the aged, Hogan was left with out everlasting housing.
His grandmother advised him concerning the Covenant Home, a homeless shelter in New Orleans serving youth and younger adults ages 16-22. Hogan has been residing on the shelter as a part of its transitional housing program since he turned homeless, he mentioned.
This system permits younger individuals to remain on the shelter as much as 24 months rent-free, giving them a possibility to deal with training or to economize whereas working, Covenant Home New Orleans chief govt officer Rheneisha Robertson advised CNN.
“It actually permits them to get steady and determine extra everlasting, steady housing,” mentioned Robertson, who added the homeless shelter had 5 different highschool graduates this yr.
Hogan, who addressed his graduating class with an uplifting valedictorian speech final week, mentioned coping with homelessness whereas finishing his training was difficult however he discovered help from the homeless shelter’s workers and his highschool’s workers.
“As time went on, I began to speak in confidence to individuals over at Covenant Home in addition to Cohen, individuals have been there to help me and provides me a guiding hand,” Hogan mentioned. “With out them, I wouldn’t (have) develop into who I’m at this time.”
He credit his Covenant Home case supervisor, Jarkayla Cobb, with by no means giving up on him.
“She helped me get by it even once I was displaying an absence of religion in myself,” Hogan mentioned. “She’s been there it doesn’t matter what I wanted.”
Hogan, who misplaced his mom simply earlier than he turned 12, says her loss of life inspired him to push ahead along with his training for his grandmother’s sake.
“I do know that’s what (my mom) would have wished,” he mentioned.
Hogan plans to attend Xavier College in New Orleans within the fall to check graphic design and has been granted a scholarship to cowl his tuition charges, he says.
“Elijah’s accomplishments are value celebrating. We all know that they’re a product of his character and the alternatives he made day after day to pursue his desires,” Jerel Bryant, chief govt officer of Collegiate Academies, which operates Hogan’s former highschool, mentioned in an announcement.
“His success can also be a testomony to how succesful and wonderful our Black youth are, in New Orleans and throughout this nation,” Bryant mentioned.
Hogan supplied these phrases of encouragement for different younger individuals:
“To any race, it doesn’t matter what colour or accent you could have, you’re your individual guiding gentle,” Hogan mentioned. “You might be your individual storybook that you simply write. Let your self be the pen that you simply write on paper.”
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