Photo Courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer
Twyanna Williams, a 65-year-old woman, finally graduated from high school. The South Philadelphia High School graduate was also the class valedictorian after having postponed her education due to financial hardships.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Williams was forced to drop out of school when she was younger to help financially when her parents split. On Monday, the determined life student finally received her diploma and even graduated with the high distinction of being one of two valedictorians in her category B class of returning students ages 40 and over at South Philly High.
“I felt sad for myself for coming out of school and seeing my friends graduating, but I was working,” she recalled. “My focus was on surviving.”
After leaving Bartram High School decades ago, her life was full of hard work and obstacles, beginning with her first full-time job at McDonald’s on 17th and Walnut Streets.
Over the years, she got by doing mostly low-level jobs at local hospitals and hotels and then eventually retired from the Sheraton Hotel.
However, despite having abandoned it, Williams never lost sight of her dream and was reminded of it as she sat through a steady stream of graduation ceremonies throughout her life. First for her two children and later for her four grandchildren.
“Everyone deserves a high school diploma,” Williams said. “The older I got, the more I wanted it.”
One year ago, Williams had an epiphany that nothing was stopping her from her long-time goal of returning to school.
So even though schools were going virtual, she enrolled in Philly’s Educational Options Programs(EOP), which allows adult students to finish credits toward a high school diploma.
“This year was extremely difficult,” said Audrey Nock, principal of the EOP program at South Philadelphia High School, where Williams enrolled.
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“You take an older student who had to log onto the computer, figure out Google classroom; how to do a PowerPoint presentation; how to travel from one Google classroom to another Google classroom, come to the main office virtually; they had to do a senior exit project … and then present it to the community.”