HOUSTON – Hurricane Katrina changed the course of many lives. For one young woman, it brought opportunities she never imagined.
As a 15-year-old, LaWanda Turner was just 2 weeks into her freshman year of high school. Then the full force of Katrina pounded her hometown of New Orleans.
“We didn’t know where we were going to be taken. We just needed to get out of the Superdome.” LaWanda remembers.
Her family of 5 boarded a bus for Dallas. Then, they crowded into a one bedroom apartment with a relative here in Houston. LaWanda viewed it as a temporary stay.
Then she realized, “Time isn’t going to stop and wait for me to go back to what I had. I need to let it go.”
It was a tough lesson for a then 15-year-old. She started hitting the books and even perfected her communication skills through a unique non-profit organization known as Genysys.
“People in my family didn’t talk about college at all. So, I started the search on my own and Rice sent me a brochure in the mail.”
That’s how the teenager, who reluctantly left her home, extended family and friends behind ended up at one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.
LaWanda has done a lot of growing up.
“One thing that I’ve learned is to not be so materialistic about things because it can be gone from you in an instant and that you need to just focus on building relationships and loving your family, loving your friends.”
LaWanda is the first in her family to attend college. She is majoring in Political Science and hopes to work as an intelligence analyst.
But, the young woman with the big smile also wants to give back.
“I would like to work with a non-profit organization.”
She knows the hard work is just beginning. She also realizes it’s all worth it.
- Outbrain
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