De’jah didn’t have far to go. But when the COVID-19 pandemic closed her school, she was suddenly missing out on the support she was relying on to keep moving toward her graduation goal.

“Honestly, I just wasn’t doing my work,” she said. “As soon as I started to not understand something, I felt discouraged and was just giving up.”

But De’jah’s school district wouldn’t give up on her. And when her principal told her she had an opportunity to take her final few classes through the Graduation Alliance program, she felt fortunate to be getting another chance.

“I told myself that I needed to take advantage of this opportunity,” she said. “I had to get this done.”

She wasn’t alone. With the support of a team of teachers, mentors and tutors who were available 24-7, De’jah finished the last few classes she needed to graduate.

“It made me learn that there is always a process for getting stuff done, and you can’t just think it’s going to get done for you,” De’jah said. “I had to be patient, listen, ask for help and work. When I did, I was able to succeed.”

Now De’Jah is a high school graduate. Not only does she feel like the work is worth it, but she’s also ready for another challenge. “I’m glad I could overcome the problems I was having,” she said. “And I think that next up for me is college.”

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In everything it does, Graduation Alliance works for one common goal: creating opportunity through the power of education. To learn more, click here.