High school isn’t always a nice place for everyone; the pressures of work and trying to fit in may make it an experience that many kids would rather forget.
After students have successfully traversed this stressful route, they can look forward to graduation.
However, until he gave a special speech at their graduation ceremony as part of his award for being valedictorian, one group of teenagers had no idea of the challenges that one of their classmates had encountered.
The valedictorian student has maintained a GPA of 3.9-4.0, which amounts to at least 95% on all assignments.
This is no small achievement for most students, and it takes a degree of devotion worthy of such recognition, but Griffin Furlong accomplished it while living on the streets.
The dedicated student has spent the previous 12 years of his life sleeping on people’s sofas and in shelters.
Griffin didn’t have a happy childhood because his mother died of illness and his father suffered financially.
He and his father and elder brother were homeless for more than a decade, and he had to get through high school without even having his own room. He didn’t have a place to sleep, freshen up, or study because he didn’t have a place to sleep, freshen up, or study.
Despite all odds, he not only graduated, but he graduated first in his class. Griffin, according to one of his professors, was the only kid who never missed an assignment.
Griffin reminded a crowd of 500 kids, most of whom were unaware of Griffin’s hardships, that “giving up is not an option.”
“I’ve lost track of how many restless nights I’ve spent alone on a chilly plastic mattress. “I grieved within, hoping that my existence would wash away soon so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the challenges of an apparently wicked world,” he explained.
“No matter how much I wanted to, I never gave up.” To everyone who has come before me, please do not live a life without meaning. You know deep down that you have something to show. So never create excuses, whether you recognize it or not, especially when you have a loving family that can provide you with all you need and want.”
During his senior year of high school, the Florida student was given a room to dwell in by his girlfriend’s family, and he hopes to pursue an engineering degree at Florida State University.
“I simply want to show that no matter what you’ve gone through, you can do it.” I never want to go back to that life. He told ABC News, “I do all I do because I don’t want to live like that.”
He and his partner intend to establish a scholarship to assist youngsters in similar situations.
In an interview with TODAY.com, he remarked, “Just never give up.” “Never let somebody tell you that you can’t accomplish anything because I’ve always been told that.” People used to tell me I wasn’t smart, but today I’m at the top of my class.”
I can’t fathom how stressful this is for a teenager who already has to deal with school, friends, sports, and peer pressures, but to get through it all and still keep top grades at school is incredible.
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