Jahkima Joseph

Who would have thought I’d be where I am today. My teenage years were not the best for me yet, I am grateful for the mistakes and decisions that I’ve made for all of it has made me a better person. My name is Jahkima Joseph and this is my high school journey. In my journey as a highschool student I have collectively attended a total of 6 different highschools due to behavioural reasons. For me, because the work given was so easy I would either act out or just not attend class without realizing how much the decisions that I was making would affect me in the future.
I was accepted to Validus Preparatory Highschool back in 2013. I can admit, my biggest mistake as a freshman was not taking school seriously. Unfortunately, my full potential was not applied to my academic school year and I did not show my peers as well as my teachers what I was really capable of. This was a big part of what started this rough path. I ended my freshman year with a superintendent suspension and my grades were terrible, so bad I had to attend summer school. My mother and I weren’t seeing eye to eye and my behavior continued to get worse. It was court mandated that I’d get placed into temporary Foster Care. I had to start over fresh. Sophomore year changed my life. I was placed in Jamaica, Queens and enrolled into August Martin High School. Sadly, I only attended that school for 2 months and I was arrested for violation of the Foster care rules (AWOL) in October of 2014. The judge sentenced me to 12 months in a non-secure placement center (NSP) and this is where my life changed for the better. For the first time ever I took my math regents and passed. My grades began to shoot up to A’s and B’s. I started taking school seriously and started to value my life.
While in NSP, I applied to Harlem Renaissance High School and was accepted to attend in the fall of 2015 for my Junior year. I left NSP a new me and was honored with a job as a youth mentor to the other incarcerated youth in placement. I started my Junior year in HRHS. I found out I was pregnant with my first child and still attending school everyday. It was my duty to attend and accomplish my goals no matter the situation, but I fell short of that when I gave birth in March and things went south. Due to the lack of support I had I was not able to get back to school after childbirth and summer school was not really an option because I was now homeless and dealing with domestic violence with my child’s father. On my 18th birthday I entered the shelter system with my 11 month old baby boy. It has crossed my mind several times to go back to school but my mindset was “will school pay the bills?” “Will school get me an apartment for my child and I ?” So I worked night and day, shift after shift until I was able to sign a lease and to have a place to call home for my son and I.
It wasn’t until last year in March I decided to enroll myself into New Visions AIM II Charter High School and to get the diploma I know that I want and deserve. I thought it would be weird to be in high school all over again at the age of 20, but I didn’t let that discourage me. Now at the age of 21 with two children, (4 years old and 5 months old) and a full time single mom back in the shelter system I worked my way to honor roll twice back to back, honored with the highest GPA (3.95) in my entire school and now aiming to graduate as valedictorian. My struggles and haters motivated me to keep on pushing to beat the odds and prove those who doubted me wrong. Being homeless only motivated me more. There's a saying “what doesn't kill you makes you stronger” and that’s exactly what it has done to me. I will be one of the few in my family to graduate high school, but the only one to ever do it with my children by my side. I beat the odds and reached for the sky because I know that’s my only limit. I never let any obstacle that blocked my way stop me from the main goal I want to achieve and I never will. I am living proof that one can fall off and get back up. This scholarship will change my life. It would help me, a young single mother attend school with one less thing to stress about. It would help me pursue my career as a physiologist and help others who once needed help the same way I did. I want to make a difference in life and it can and will start here.