High school senior overcomes homelessness, raising a child to become valedictorian

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Trameka Pope of Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago continues to defy everyone’s expectations – just not her own.

The teenager has overcome homelessness and giving birth just days before her freshman year to become her school’s valedictorian.

Pope proved she could do it all, joining the National Honor Society while also cheerleading for the school and taking courses at Kennedy-King College, all while working at a local supermarket to support herself.

“I didn’t give up,” Pope said. “I pushed myself hard. And my baby motivated me every day because I wanted to provide for her and I also didn’t want to be a statistic.”

Watch a full report on Trameka Pope’s accomplishments below:

FOX 32 News Chicago

The statistics for teen moms are not promising, with only 40% of teen mothers graduating high school and 2% of teen moms graduating college before age 30.

But Pope is on track to do just that, with a scholarship to Western Illinois University in Macomb, where she will attend next fall.

Dawn Jackson, Pope’s SGA Youth and Family Services caseworker, was proud of Pope and offered this explanation for her success:

“No matter what background you come from, no matter if you have a child as a teen, no matter what people say to you, you can make it and you can become something.”