Twelve Schools, Many Shelters, One Harvard Acceptance

Khadijah Williams grew up in California with her younger sister and their mother. Her mother, who is 14 years older than Khadijah, encouraged her and told her she could be a major success, but she could not offer much stability. The three lived in homeless shelters, motels and armories.

School was uneven. According to the Los Angeles Times, as reported by the ABA Journal, she attended twelve schools in twelve years. She finished only half of fourth grade and half of fifth, and skipped sixth. Seventh grade was split between Los Angeles and San Diego, and eighth grade included two weeks in San Bernardino.

A turning point came at age nine, when she scored very high on a statewide test and was labelled gifted. That recognition motivated her to focus on her schooling. In high school she sought out organisations and mentors, and she was a leader on the track and field team. She spent her final years before college at a single high school, which let her gather the recommendations she needed.

She graduated in June 2009 with a 4.0 average, ranked fourth in her class, and was admitted to Harvard University with a full scholarship. She hoped to earn a law degree and practise education law. Her story drew national attention to students who are homeless. She also spoke candidly about what the achievement did not change: she saw her mother only occasionally, and on her yearbook she said that classmates felt like strangers and that she was nowhere in its pages.