Quote:A homeless teenager in Florida who overcame a difficult childhood to graduate as class valedictorian on Wednesday has a brighter future ahead of him.
Griffin Furlong has had his college fund boosted by more than $91,000 by Thursday morning, as details spread of the 18-year-old's determination to succeed despite the odds.
When he gave his valedictorian speech at First Coast High School on Wednesday, Griffin told his classmates 'giving up is not an option'.
(05-30-2015 09:17 PM)Fortis Wrote: Damn, how did he pull that off. Must be a real talent and a really hard worker.
It was his white privilege
Hehehe.
But seriously. What does homeless mean in this situation? You say homeless, like rapist, and many people imagine some one pushing a cart full of cans and sleeping on cardboard under an overpass. Just like with rapist you imagine the monster hiding in the bushes.
While both exist, most homeless people don't fit that stereotype. I just wonder what his situation was. I knew plenty of kids who were technically homeless in HS. Most of the time their step dad, drug addicted mother, mom's boyfriend, or some combination of the above just got tired of them and kicked them out. So, they ended up being taken in by friends and the weekend or week they were going to crash on their friends sofa, with their parents permission, turned into a junior or senior year because their parents/guardians really were that type of shit. Or you have people living in shelters, some of which can be quite nice. Or living in motels because without credit or a stable job your parents can't get an apt, and maybe they got booted out of subsidized housing for failing the housing inspection (like my friends who couldn't put away the drugs for the one day, announced in advance, that the inspectors come around our of the year).
My point is that there is all kinds of homeless and this kid doesn't look like he was sleeping in a shanti shack under a bridge. But good job for him, none the less.
Women these days think they can shop for a man like they shop for a purse or a pair of shoes. Sorry ladies. It doesn't work that way.
Women are like sandwiches. All men love sandwiches. That's a given. But sandwiches are only good when they're fresh. Nobody wants a day old sandwich. The bread is all soggy and the meat is spoiled.
Despite losing his mother to cancer when he was 6, and being raised in a series of homeless shelters, Griffin achieved a 4.65 grade average in high school.
He puts his educational success down to a determination to make something of himself, telling the graduates: 'I perform the way I do in the classroom because I have everything to lose.'
Before he was selected as valedictorian at First Coast High School, few of Griffin's teachers and classmates knew about his hard life.
From the age of seven, he and his brother, Sean have been moved to various homeless shelters with their father, and often went hungry.
'Every single one of my peers thinks I live and have lived a normal, everyday life. Everyone thinks I try to get good grades because I’m smart. Not true,,,' Griffin said.
'I make the grades I do because I was once lost, and had nothing.'
Heh, guess I should have read the article before posting.
Also, this is fucking insane(from the article):
"According to Jacksonville.com, his school district has about 1,000 homeless students."
Damn.
Women these days think they can shop for a man like they shop for a purse or a pair of shoes. Sorry ladies. It doesn't work that way.
Women are like sandwiches. All men love sandwiches. That's a given. But sandwiches are only good when they're fresh. Nobody wants a day old sandwich. The bread is all soggy and the meat is spoiled.