Destyni's destiny is success

Destyni Tyree is a teenager living in Washington, DC, where rents are sky-high. A couple of years ago, her Mom lost her job, and couldn't afford to pay rent. She made the difficult decision to move her family into the city's largest homeless shelter. Destyni was used to her own space, and found life with 243 other homeless families at D.C. General claustrophobic. The stress of homelessness damaged her academic life, forcing her to withdraw from several schools. Then everything changed for the better.

                                                                                                   Courtesy of Destyni Tyree
She enrolled at Roosevelt S.T.A.Y. High School, an alternative school that motivated her to succeed, and she did. Beside working 25 hours a week in an ice cream parlor, she took class loads so heavy (including classes on Saturday) that she graduated from high school in two years. In her spare time, she launched the school's first cheerleading team, organized a senior trip and the senior prom. How was this possible? "I just time managed," she said. "I just wake up and do what I gotta do." As a result, this homeless student was elected prom queen, earned a 4.0 GPA and snagged a FULL RIDE scholarship to Potomac State College of West Virginia University, where she begins classes this fall. "Quite frankly, I'm just ready to go and live life," she said. "I know there's a better life out there for me."