(June 23) -- Peers called Khadijah Williams the "Harvard girl," or "smart girl" who enrolled at their Los Angeles high school just 18 months ago, but she never told them of the struggles behind her success: She was homeless.

Williams, 18, graduated fourth in her high school class with a GPA just under 4.0. It's an amazing feat considering she spent the bulk of her life on the street. She, her mother Chantwuan Williams and younger sister Jeanine Williams have been moving in and out of homeless shelters throughout California for years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Skip over this content

Homeless 'Harvard Girl' Shines

Brian Vander Brug, Los Angeles Times

Khadijah Williams, center, sports her cap and gown while talking with her mother Chantwaun Williams, left, and her sister Jeanine Williams, 11, at her mother's storage room in Los Angeles. Khadijah, 18, graduated fourth in her class at Jefferson High School.

Khadijah recognized her gift for learning as early as age 9, when she placed in the 99th percentile on state exams. She was soon designated a gifted student.

Her elementary educational path became rocky shortly thereafter because of constant uprooting stemming from her mother's money woes. She failed to complete the fourth, fifth and eighth grades; skipped the sixth and split seventh between Los Angeles and San Diego. In total, she attended 12 schools over 12 years.

Khadijah's intelligence extends beyond the classroom. Her years spent surviving pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers taught her how to avoid bad habits and seek mentors, counselors and programs to help her reach her goals.

James and Patricia London became involved with Khadijah through one of those initiatives, South Central Scholars. After her mother and sister vanished from the homeless shelter where they were staying, the Londons opened their hilltop home to a lonely Khadijah for the remainder of her 12th grade year.

James, an orthopedic surgeon, and Patricia, a nurse, helped Khadijah with the essays for her college applications, according to the Los Angeles Times. They also taught her valuable life skills like money management, table manners and grooming.

Her Harvard recruiter, Julie Hilden, said she was impressed with her scholastic performance and knew she was a top candidate. The challenge for the Ivy League school is to create a support network of faculty, counselors and a host family that will all help foster her growth.

"I strongly recommended her," Hilden told the newspaper. "I told them, 'If you don't take her, you might be missing out on the next Michelle Obama. Don't make this mistake.' "

After only seeing her mother sporadically during the last six months before her high school graduation, Khadijah found her and her sister at a storage facility in South Central L.A. where they last stored their belongings.

The "Harvard girl" modeled her hunter green graduation cap and gown and practiced switching the tassel for her fractured family.

"Look at you," her mother said. "You're really going to Harvard, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, pausing. "I'm going to Harvard."

 

Jeanine Williams, 11, at her mother's storage room in Los Angeles. Khadijah, 18, graduated fourth in her class at Jefferson High School.

(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)Khadijah recognized her gift for learning as early as age 9, when she placed in the 99th percentile on state exams. She was soon designated a gifted student.

Her elementary educational path became rocky shortly thereafter because of constant uprooting stemming from her mother's money woes. She failed to complete the fourth, fifth and eighth grades; skipped the sixth and split seventh between Los Angeles and San Diego. In total, she attended 12 schools over 12 years.

Khadijah's intelligence extends beyond the classroom. Her years spent surviving pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers taught her how to avoid bad habits and seek mentors, counselors and programs to help her reach her goals.

James and Patricia London became involved with Khadijah through one of those initiatives, South Central Scholars. After her mother and sister vanished from the homeless shelter where they were staying, the Londons opened their hilltop home to a lonely Khadijah for the remainder of her 12th grade year.

James, an orthopedic surgeon, and Patricia, a nurse, helped Khadijah with the essays for her college applications, according to the Los Angeles Times. They also taught her valuable life skills like money management, table manners and grooming.

Her Harvard recruiter, Julie Hilden, said she was impressed with her scholastic performance and knew she was a top candidate. The challenge for the Ivy League school is to create a support network of faculty, counselors and a host family that will all help foster her growth.

"I strongly recommended her," Hilden told the newspaper. "I told them, 'If you don't take her, you might be missing out on the next Michelle Obama. Don't make this mistake.' "

After only seeing her mother sporadically during the last six months before her high school graduation, Khadijah found her and her sister at a storage facility in South Central L.A. where they last stored their belongings.

The "Harvard girl" modeled her hunter green graduation cap and gown and practiced switching the tassel for her fractured family.

"Look at you," her mother said. "You're really going to Harvard, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, pausing. "I'm going to Harvard."

---

---

Richard Harbus for News

Cedric Walton, 18, shares one room in a homeless shelter with his grandmother, Carolyn Gray.

Richard Harbus for News

Walton with adviser Jeannine Brown and principal Gregory Hodge.

Cedric Walton has not lived a charmed life.

It has been him and his grandmother against the world, weathering what most people couldn't even if they lived 10 lifetimes.

A mother dead of AIDS when Cedric was 3. A father nowhere to be found; an aunt who drowned before his eyes two years ago - and living in one room in an East Harlem homeless shelter.

And then a diagnosis of lung cancer at age 17.

It is a miracle the soft-spoken Harlem kid is still standing, let alone graduating from Frederick Douglass Academy high school next week - and on his way to SUNY Albany on a full scholarship in the fall.

"We've had kids with illness before, but we have never had a kid that was so positive, so resilient, even though he was in so much pain," said longtime Frederick Douglass Academy Principal Gregory Hodge.

"His whole world was falling apart in 12th grade and never did you hear this young man complain about anything," said Hodge. "You meet this kid and you want to cry. He's amazing."

This is a story of one New York boy's struggles - and how a tsunami of love from teachers, a principal who saw himself in Cedric and extended family rose up to rescue him and propel him into a promising future.

Last fall at the beginning of senior year, Cedric, now 18, started coughing up blood. Tests showed it was cancer, and surgery was scheduled in February to remove parts of his left lung.

While his classmates were completing college applications, Walton didn't have even the chance to get started.

Between medical tests and recovering from surgery, he had to miss more than a month of school. "I was so worried, the deadlines were passing." said Cedric.

No matter. Ms. Winkelsas, the English teacher, brought him books in the hospital. Ms. Turay and Ms. Brown helped him with his college applications. The gym teacher, Mr. Acosta, gave him moral support once he was out of the hospital, "visiting me in the courtyard outside the shelter. He'd talk to me about his own experiences and brought me a video game to help me pass the time."

As winter turned to spring, his grandmother, Carolyn Gray, and Aunt Phyllis brought him by cab up to the school on 148th St. where Hodge let Walton sit in his quiet office with the computer until he was too tired to go on.

Walton would wait until the surgery pain was unbearable before taking his pain medicine, not wanting to feel "dopey."

"Don't worry, we'll be dopey together," said Hodge, cheering Walton on.

In the meantime, the school's college advisers were racing to help get a year's worth of material together in a few weeks. They started dialing admissions offices on Walton's list, and pleading his extraordinary case - even though it was now April, and colleges had already started sending out acceptance letters.

The boy who brought home 100s on tests and class work gave his grandmother more good news last month.

SUNY Albany, SUNY New Paltz, St. Bonaventure, Alfred University and Lehman College all said yes. Walton and his grandmother danced around their one room on E. 104th St.

"We just jumped up and down!" said Gray, 69, a retired hospital aide. "I told Cedric, 'I am so proud of you!' He's been through so much in his young life."

Walton physically and psychologically breathes easier with his cancer surgery a success.

Scarfing down French toast at a Lenox Ave. restaurant on Tuesday, the 5-foot-11 guy who goes by "Ceddy" has a happier and calmer future to look forward to, "away from the busy and dangerous streets that are not for me.

"I've come a long way and I'm proud of myself," he said with a soft smile.

"Cancer was the scariest and not having a mother the saddest."

Asked what he would tell another kid facing tough times, he added, "Don't give up at all. Life does get better. And there are people who will be there for you, some who you never even knew but come into your life to help."