[Applause]
from the moment I was born the
department of orthopaedics and the
operating table have been a second home
to me born with right spastic hemiplegia
cerebral palsy I required many
procedures to correct issues with my
right leg in fact my most recent and
final procedure was this past August it
was a complete success and the key point
is that I never let it stop me in fact
it served as a catalyst because it is
because it is my intention to become a
and the key point to that is don’t let
anything stop you we’re going to face
many hardships and obstacles in our
lives but if you take faith in the fact
that if you believe in yourself there is
nothing that can stop you believing in
yourself is the key to being personally
effective and that is the key to success
let me share with you another story at
this very moment right now I am homeless
I do not have a home homelessness and
poverty are often seen as the two big
obstacles that will prevent anybody from
achieving their dreams but I’m here to
tell you otherwise before becoming
homeless I remember living a pretty
normal life but then I remember coming
home from school stuff was slowly
getting packed away the TV disappeared
the bed was dissembled I was sleeping on
a mattress on the floor all of a sudden
I find myself in a five-by-five box
security guards rummaging through our
things whenever we came in security
guards bursting into our room in the
middle of the night with flashlights
fist fights in the hallways during my
first weeks of being in the shelter it
was a very big shock to me and the
biggest obstacle was education I had a
gigantic stack of books and a laptop
that’s a red flag to the security at the
shelter so I had to modify what I did my
strategies for achieving I did even more
than that I decided to take virtual
school classes and I put myself two
that was two and a half years ago
unfortunately as of june of last year
I’m in my second round of homelessness
but the thing is it’s really about your
attitude and outlook as you can see this
past summer I wanted to take some
college classes at miami-dade college
now I live in homestead so logically I
would take these classes at the
homestead campus but they weren’t
offered there so I made the bold and
completely voluntary decision to take
them and miami-dade College wolfson
downtown Miami 40 miles away bear in
mind that I was homeless so I took the
bus and the train five days a week i
woke up at 4am didn’t get home until 10
to 11 some nights I also took some
virtual school classes to fulfill
graduation requirements it was a very
tiring exhausting experience but an
exhilarating one and it proved that I
have the resolve and the belief in
where am I now well here i stand with 72
college credits that’s more than an
associate’s degree and i’m still a high
school student here i stand one of nine
students selected to attend colorado
college on a full-ride scholarship as a
here at Stan taking organic chemistry to
a phenomenal achievement for a high
school student and here I stand the
first high school student to be invited
to participate in undergraduate research
at the homestead campus of miami-dade
college what I’ve done is extraordinary
but i always say at the same time it
isn’t and i say that because i know i
have the power to do extraordinary
things i know there’s nothing that can
stop me but that isn’t unique to me
because you have that power too you have
the power to do unimaginably great
things it really is all about believing
in yourself and your capabilities so the
key point I wanna drive here is explore
the possibilities chase your dreams
kimball your passions and always know
that no matter the circumstances you can
and will always find the path to new
heights of achievement thank you [Applause]