Simone"I will be successful."


Simone has a goal for her life: achieve something remarkable and do something positive; this in the face of a multitude of childhood difficulties including poverty, foster care, even homelessness. Instead of giving in, Simone has turned these experiences into the motivation to succeed. Watching her mother struggle between her love for her children and her addiction to drugs, Simone took over the responsibility of raising her siblings. Although she and her mother have now reclaimed their relationship and the family is back together, Simone still bears a great deal of the additional responsibility of raising her siblings. For Simone, it truly will be remarkable when she dons her high school cap and gown—she’ll be the first in her family to graduate from high school.

After transferring schools in the fourth grade, Simone found herself academically behind her peers in every subject.. Despite this shortcoming, she remained determined to succeed. She joined EIF during her sophomore year at James Madison High School and has taken life skills training, field trips, and worked with her Higher Education Advisor to learn more about college choices and applications. Simone now takes all Advanced Placement courses and was selected as a Mayor’s Intern Fellow at Children’s Hospital last summer. She also remains active in high school sports, her favorite being basketball. In addition to all these commitments, she makes time to take care of her siblings whom she describes as her life.

Initially, during her college application process, she sought out universities with strong undergraduate pre-med programs. Simone had planned to attend Howard University. However, Simone became pregnant during her senior year. For most students, this would be the end of their college aspirations, but for Simone this has meant only the modification of her dreams. She now plans to attend a college closer to home, so her mom can help her care for her baby, a little girl named A'Mya.