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Unable to adequately satisfy the credit requirement set at her former high school, Brit’kne began listening. The same message kept coming, one of positive feedback surrounding Houston Can! Academy's success rates in helping students get back on track and earn their high school diploma. Washington enrolled at Houston Can! Academy in March 2007, and will be among the June 2008 graduating class. “If you are behind in your regular school and want to graduate on time, they will definitely make sure you graduate on time,” Washington explained. In fact, Houston Can! is somewhat of family affair for Washington. She has a brother in the 11th grade and a sister in the 12th, both graduating next January. While Washington gives praises on the academic program, she says wearing a uniform took a little getting used to. “That’s the only thing I didn’t like, but it’s a small sacrifice to make so I can get my diploma.” English, Math and Computer are among the 17-year old’s favorite subjects. She is looking forward to attending Texas Southern University’s Pharmacy Tech program, and ultimately wants to become an Anesthesiologist. “I became interested in the medical field because some of my family is in it. I know I have a lot of studying to do, but I’m up for the challenge,” adds Washington.

Seventeen year old Crystal knew her life was heading in the wrong direction. After realizing the combination of hanging around the wrong crowd and surrounding herself with people who were really not supportive or encouraging friends, she knew it was time to make change. Today, Crystal is more confident about what the her future holds after putting in eighteen months of hard work and dedicated studying at Houston Can! Academy Main campus, she is proud to be the first person in her family to receive their high school diploma. Crystal is quick to credit the positive and supportive experience she’s had at Can! downtown Houston campus as part of the foundation for her success. “The counselors really help the students a lot which is why we are more successful,” says Crystal. She also credits being around “new” Houston Can! friends who share a common goal. “We’re all on the same level of wanting to succeed and not lowering our standards. We all want to get to the highest point in our life, adds Crystal.” While Crystal has decided on what college she plans to attend, she is leaning towards Texas A&M because of their strong military program. As the oldest of four siblings, Crystal is quick to recognize her responsibility to encourage, inspire and be a role model for her siblings so they can succeed in reaching there dreams. “My family is so excited that I am graduating. I want to teach my siblings to be better than me, stay on the right track and go for more in life instead of settling with what you have.”

From high school dropout to high school graduate, Ignacio is now on his way to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.

“Growing up I didn’t really have much. My mom is a single mother of two, I haven't seen my dad in 10 years, but she always tried her best to support us. She worked any and every job she could, like picking tomatoes until she was 7 months pregnant, then moving to a tractor position because her belly was too big to bend down. She has also held construction jobs in downtown Dallas.”

“I was usually home alone so I started to go to my friends for a sense of security that’s why I decided to join a gang. I just started following in my brothers footsteps. I started smoking a lot and doing reckless things.”

After struggling at his previous high school and lacking the sense of support that he craved from the administration, Ignacio decided to drop out. He worked at Dairy Queen for a year and even got offered a managerial position.

“Then one day I realized I didn’t want to disappoint my mom anymore. I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life.”

“My mom came to this country as an immigrant and I wanted to show her that all her effort wasn't for nothing. That’s why I get up every day and try to do my best.”

So he followed in his brother’s footsteps again, this time for all the right reasons. His brother graduated from Texans Can Academies and his family recommended he do the same if he really wanted to turn his life around.

“Texans Can was my second chance. A second opportunity that you can’t take for granted. Although some people think of this school as a school for all the mess ups, it’s not. The people here are helping us get somewhere, to be someone in life. I’m not afraid to say that I’m from Texans Can.”

“The teachers and advisors here do the most to make sure I’m making the right choices.”

“My advisor Mrs. Randle would text me if I was late to school and even ask if I needed a ride. She’s always there for me trying to get me to school. Especially when I had surgery a month ago and I would be late because I had to go to therapy. She would tell me to go to the PM shift if I couldn't make it that morning.”

“My teacher Mr. Vasquez, even calls me his son. Another advisor Mrs. Machuca offered me two jobs and took me on college visits.”

“They’ve made such a big difference in my life and are always looking out for you. They’re the reason I come to school every day.”

Ignacio has always had a keen sense of ambition. He always knew what he wanted. When he found out about the CNA program offered at the Can Academies, he was eager to get his life back on track, to finally make his mom proud.

“My whole life I’ve always been a little science nerd. It came so naturally to me.”

“When I enrolled here I was actually too late to get in the anatomy class. So I just started reading on my own, about body systems and how they function. It never ceases to amaze me how such an intricate system works together to make up who we are. I’ve always wanted to work in the medical field.”

Ignacio will take his CNA certification in the spring and will be a first-generation college.

“I want to use the CNA program as a step towards my future career, as a foundation to my future. I just really like caring for people. I always think of others before myself.”

“I’m not proud of who I was before, but it’s brought me where I am today. I honestly would’ve never graduated high school if it wasn’t for the Can Academies.”

“I was making good money at DQ or thought I was. It was enough to get me by. I just never had anyone guide me to get to higher places. I’ve always had goals, but never knew how to achieve them.”

“The people here actually help me, they actually care about my life and where I go afterwards. I’ve never had that before.”

My story begins when my mom was 15-years-old. She was raped by my father and that is how I was conceived.

Soon after I was born my mom was diagnosed with postpartum depression.

When I was two weeks old I had trouble breathing and my mom found out I had a tumor in my throat. I had to have surgery to remove the tumor and then was sent home to recover. Not too long after I went home somehow when I was in my crib all my stiches in my neck ripped open. I am thankful my grandmother came to check in on my mother and I because when she did my mother was standing there watching me bleed out and not doing anything to stop it.

I believe my mother was so still so angry and resented me because I reminded her of her rape. My grandma ended up picking me up and holding my head to my body and getting me to the hospital in time.

This was my beginning.

When I was about 3-years-old my mom married my stepdad. They had my little sister and then my little brother.

From as early as I can remember my parents highly favored my siblings.

I remember one time we were back to school shopping at the flea market when I saw the coolest pair of high top Vans I had ever seen. They had checkers and so many bright colors. I had never seen shoes like that before. I picked them up and asked my stepdad if I could have them.

He looked me straight in my eyes and said no, yet he turned to my younger sister and said, “Would you like these shoes?”

It broke my heart so much because I could feel him using my excitement for the shoes against me. It was just another way to make me feel like I wasn’t as important as my brother and sister.

Drugs are another issue that plagues family for as long as I can remember. My mom’s pregnancy with my sister did not even stop her or my stepdad from consuming drugs day in and day out.

His drug of choice was heroin and my mother’s was meth.

The majority of my childhood was spent watching my parents do and sell drugs.

My stepdad became very violent and would beat on me and my mother on a regular basis.

I remember one time he threw my mother through our glass French doors. She landed on the back porch and in the process her two front teeth were knocked out. I saw all of this happen right in front of me. After her teeth were knocked out he would make fun of her all the time.

She became very depressed and tried killing herself in our bathroom. She locked the door and broke the mirror. She eventually let me in and I saw my mother bleeding from her wrists in our bathtub. Somehow my grandparents showed up and were able to get her help and she lived.

You might be thinking, ‘Where was Child Protective Services?”.

They were there actually. My family went through seven CPS cases while I was growing up.

It was basically hopeless though because my parents coached us on what to say to the CPS workers. They would threaten us with beatings if we didn’t say exactly what we were supposed to.

My parents also had us pee in their drug test cups so they wouldn’t be caught testing positive for drugs.

One time we were removed from our house and went to go live with my stepdad’s mother. She was mean herself and also resented me for not being her son’s child. Life with her was just about as difficult as life at home.

The violence between my mom and my stepdad came to a head one day when he showed up unexpectedly at our doorstep. He had been in jail and had gotten out and not told anyone.

He kidnapped my mother that day.

I called my grandparents and they came and got us kids and we went looking for them. Somehow, by the grace of God, we found them at an old motel on the Westside. My grandfather and uncle and the hotel manager broke down the door and we found my mother duct tapped to a chair. I remember the duct tape being so tight her skin was budging out. She was sweating and crying, but we couldn’t understand her because her mouth was duct tapped shut.

He was arrested and sent back to jail.

I wanted a better life, but things kept going downhill.

You see, all of this was happening while I was going to school or trying to go to school.

On the days I didn’t have to stay home and take care of my baby brother because my parents wouldn’t wake up, I would try attend school, but I always had to remember to cover up my bruises and be cautious to avoid questions from adults.

One day I ended up getting arrested and spend three weeks in juvenile detention. One day a school a girl who had been picking on me called me a bastard. See I didn’t know what that meant until a friend told me.

I became so angry. This girl knew my mother had been raped. I got into a physical fight with this girl and caused her to need a few stiches. I guess all my anger just came out that day because I had never been in a fight before.

I was later arrested and found guilty and sentenced to three weeks in a juvenile detention center. However, there was a good thing that came from this bad situation.

I told my entire story.

I told her everything, all the stories I just told you plus so many more I don’t have the time to tell today. This helped me get out of my parents’ house for good. This started the process of me being adopted by my grandparents.

In a way I am thankful for that experience because I was finally able to get help.

I went to two high schools before I found San Antonio CAN. I never felt like I fit it. When I was there I would miss my siblings and worry if they were okay. After the kidnapping incident my grandparents decided to legally adopt me.

I remember I was in class one time and shared with the class that I might be able to go to college since I was adopted I could get grants. The adult in the room asked me in front of the whole class, “Why are you being adopted? You/re parents don’t want you?”

It was like a punch in the gut.

Immediately after finding the Can Academies I didn’t feel lonely. For the first time, my teachers understood and helped me. They made me feel wanted. If it weren’t for them I don’t think I would be graduating. I finally found find the first place where I truly belonged.

My advisor Ms. Simmons and my English teacher Ms. Hatfield made me feel like they understood where I had been and that I was wanted.

If it weren’t for San Antonio CAN I don’t think I would be graduating from high school.

Now my life is different.

Although my mom will always be my mom and I can’t change the past, I can choose what I do moving forward.

My goals are to join the Army after high school and eventually earn a degree in education and come back to teach at the CAN. I want to help students like me find their purpose.

And as for me, I was adopted by my grandparents. My grandparents love me very much. I have a boyfriend who helped me get in my journey to get off meth and I found a great church that I consider a second home.

I am thankful for the Can, my grandparents, my boyfriend and my church. I am also thankful for those of you reading this today.

I found find the first place I felt I truly belonged, San Antonio Can.

I know now that I life of love, faith and hope to look forward to. Thank you for believing in me.

Last Friday at a seafood buffet in Washington D.C. I got a phone call. It was from a publicist for my school, Texans Can! Academy at Carrollton-Farmers Branch. Over the past week, I had been blogging about my experiences at the Stephen Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership Program at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in the nation’s capital. 

She told me that she had read my blogs and wanted me to write an autobiographical article. It was like a dream, I was happy enough having my blogs published on the internet. Now I'm going to have my work published in a real newspaper. Although I may have procrastinated, I believe I do my best work in the clutch. So here is my story. 

Born a healthy seven pounds, six ounces on the morning of September 6, 1991. I came into the world with a loving family, and a wonderful community to help raise me. My parents were both deaf, and as you can imagine, this can make things difficult when it comes to communication. Luckily, I learned sign language at a young age. When I was only seven or eight months old, I learned some simple signs from my parents and grandparents. I can’t imagine how exciting it must have been for my parents to communicate with their hearing child. 

As I grew older, my knowledge of sign language gained momentum and grew like a snowball tumbling down a powdery, snow-blanketed hill. I was a bright child, and drank in knowledge like a dry sponge. Even though I knew sign language, there were still communication issues. My hard-of-hearing mother could speak, but had a speech impediment. When you cannot hear your own voice clearly, it’s hard to correct your speech. My favorite anecdote illustrating this happened when I was 4. I remember my mother was cleaning my ears. When I asked what was in them she replied “earwax.” Because of my mother's speech impediment I heard her say “ear rats.” From then until I was six I believed that there were rats in my ears. 

Reading and spelling came easy to me, so if there was a word in ASL I didn't know, I could always spell it out. This helped me a lot in school. I was proud of my ability to spell and write, but school often bored me. I did well on tests, projects, and other assessments, but rarely turned in homework. People always told me that I was smart, but needed to apply myself more. Doubting my own intelligence, I thought that’s what they told everyone. I still loved reading, writing, and learning, just not school. 

I learned a lot about life and the world from my parents and would never trade them or their disability for anything. I have them to thank for my concern for others and my ability to empathize. They are very caring individuals who would do anything to ensure the well being of those around them. I inherited this skill from mom and dad, and it is part of the reason I can convey and understand others’ emotions so naturally. I am fond of telling people that sign language is body language’s most extreme and thorough manifestation. To communicate what the hearing can with tone and pitch, the deaf communicate so much more emotion in their facial expressions and movements. 

Because of their lack of hearing, they have to be so much more attentive to non-verbal cues than the hearing , and growing up in that kind of environment allowed me to more readily be able to pick up on those things. Growing up, religion was a big part of my life. As a child, I served as an altar boy and sang in the choir. Although I liked being a part of the church, and the praises I got from my family and church community, I think it was too much responsibility at a young age. I remember how easily I could be distracted during choir practice. My eyes would drift from the sheet music as I thought about how much fun I could have had I skipped practice that day. I stopped going to choir practice, and eventually church altogether. This is when I entered the somewhat rebellious stage most do. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking cigarettes, and skipping school. This only got worse when my parents separated. As in many situations where a parent leaves, I could not help but blame myself. Between my brother and me, I took mom and dad’s separation the hardest. I started smoking pot and drinking, probably to cope with my mother’s departure. This in turn had a more dramatic effect on my school attendance. I normally passed most of my classes, but because of my poor attendance my high school career was badly derailed; I only had two credits earned with twelve weeks left in the last semester of my sophomore year. I would have dropped out, but thanks to my counselor at Thomas Jefferson High School, I was given a second chance. 

She told me that I could either go through truancy court again, or go to a charter school in Farmers Branch called Texans Can! Academy. Realizing this was my best option, and only chance to graduate on time, I jumped on the opportunity and straightened up my act. My attendance improved greatly and despite a few bumps along the way I am now officially a senior. I should be graduating in the next year and I'm ready to start college soon. I have not found the right university for me yet, but I do know that I want to become a deaf education teacher. Jesse Jackson said once, “The problem is not that the students cannot hear, the problem is that the teachers do not listen.” I feel like Reverend Jackson was speaking directly to me; demanding I become a teacher to help shape young minds, especially those of the deaf. I have the advantage of being a hearing person in possession of a special understanding and deep relationship with the deaf community cultivated in my upbringing. I can relate and communicate with students, and have the caring attitude it takes to empathize with them. I have learned so much from the deaf community and the only thing I would like more than to give back to that community is to teach it's most important lessons and skills to the hearing. Teaching has always been that option that sat patiently in the back of my mind, a plan-B where I knew I could succeed but not necessarily what I wanted in a career. I have only recently discovered it as my true vocation. I have always enjoyed educating others and felt I was very informative. I have also had many inspiring teachers over the years. Foremost among them is my current History and Journalism teacher, Mr. Aubrey Leveridge. I have only known Mr. Leveridge for a year; 2009-2010 was his first year teaching and even though this is only his second year as a teacher at Texans Can!, I have adopted him as my official role model. I can only hope that I can become half the teacher he is. 

Teaching is more than my calling, it is also my familiy’s legacy. My grandmother taught science, and my aunt teaches special education. I come from a long line of educators. A gift has been given to me in my ability to sign and understand the deaf. Manifested in my heart is a great concern for others and I have seen firsthand the mistreatment of deaf people; ranging from staring and poor service in stores and restaurants to great difficulty finding work. I have had a terribly difficult time finding a job this summer probably because of the economy and am very well aware how difficult it is for my father. I remember reluctantly tagging along on job interviews with him because there was no interpreter. He has been out of work for some time now, and I hope he can find the right job. For the most part, the treatment of those with hearing disabilities has been sub-par from my perspective. It is my goal to change that, if only for a few people. My recent trip to and participation in the Steven Tyrone Johns Summer Youth Leadership Prgram at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. has inspired me to found a deaf awareness group. I plan to teach my peers sign language and the progression and treatment of deaf people throughout history. Also, there will be events where hearing and deaf students can come together and just have some good old fashioned fun like when my parents would take me to the deaf chat at Starbucks every Saturday. This is where I got the idea for the awareness group. 

I often reminisce about attending and fondly remember the fascinating stories I heard. Watching a deaf person tell a story is a very engaging experience. You can almost feel the same emotions they did at the time. I want to show others the attentive and caring nature of the deaf community. Hopefully through education and sympathy, I can make a difference for deaf people. I have many aspirations for the future including starting a deaf friendly non-profit organization that will offer employment opportunities and aid for the deaf and the hearing alike. I want to make a contribution to society in the best way possible, and that is through action. In the community of Holocaust museums and historians, this is called being an “upstander” instead of a bystander. In order to make a change, you must actively pursue life and never stop until you achieve your goals. 

I have been through a lot over the years. I was evicted from my childhood home, and again from my first apartment. My parents split up, and my mom moved away, but I never let those things get me down. I have been inspired by my own hardships, and the tribulations of those around me to better myself and set the stage for a bright future. I just hope that my story will communicate this inspiration to others. It is the nature of man to struggle, and without it we are nothing. There would be no life lessons or morality, and the world would be a boring place. I have lived my life to the best of my ability, and I have no regrets. I may be young, but I have learned a lot about life through experiences. I always try to remember Otto von Bismarck’s admonition, saying fools learn from their own experience while wise men learn from the experience of others.I want to live this adage as an example to people in a manner suggesting they learn from my mistakes and build on my successes. 

Despite my shortcomings and setbacks and because of the man they have made me, you are reading my words, but they could be someone else’s. I am not the only young person to have suffered in life and then grown from it; I am not the only young person with a voice; and I am especially not the first young person to want to change the world, yet here are my words. For those of you who have not suffered and grown, for those of you who have not found your voice, and for those of you who have never wanted to change the world; you will. You will suffer and you will grow; your voice is there, but you have to hear it before anyone else can; and when you are ready to change the world, let me know because I will help you if you help me. 

For those of you who have done all these things already, remember what it was like to be me and help me help you. In closing, I would like to thank my family, my teachers, my community, and anyone who helped raise me along the way. For they are my guides and I the true maker of my destiny. They inspire me to better myself, and I want to make them proud.