NO EXCUSES TEENS WHO HAVE OVERCOME INCREDIBLE OBSTACLES TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE

STORY BY RACHEL STONE | PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Growing up, earning good grades, pursuing a talent and gaining college acceptance is tough, but imagine doing so in the face of abject poverty or an incurable disability or while you are the primary caretaker for a dying parent and your younger siblings. Hellish circumstances can become an excuse for teens to escape down a destructive, pain-numbing path. For a few neighborhood seniors who will graduate this month, however, hardship is reason to strive for a better future. Their determination, support from teachers and administrators, and, perhaps, the ironwill derived from a fight for survival has driven them to remarkable success.