Education trumps adversity

Tevin Bradley ran with the wrong crowd, started doing drugs when he was 14 and picked fights so frequently that he was kicked out of a continuation school for troubled teens. So when the 17-year-old received his high school diploma Saturday, it symbolized not only academic achievement but also a radical life change.

“I didn’t see myself getting here,” said the Bellflower teen, clad in a burgundy cap and gown. If not for a dedicated teacher and his parents, he figures, he would have ended up “in jail or on the streets. Not here.”

Bradley was among more than 170 teenagers who completed their high school education through alternative programs run by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. They were honored at an afternoon commencement ceremony Saturday at USC’s Bovard Auditorium with parents, siblings and friends cheering as they crossed the stage to the familiar strains of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

“Graduates, you look beautiful,” said Darline P. Robles, the county superintendent of schools. “I am so proud to share this day with you.”

The graduates took different paths to finish their schooling. Some, such as Bradley, attended alternative schools. Others, including several teen mothers, completed independent study courses. Another two dozen finished their schooling behind the locked gates of the county’s juvenile detention camps.

Rozshay Hawkins, 18, has almost completed her 13-month sentence at Camp Kenyon Scudder in Santa Clarita. The Lancaster teenager declined to discuss how she landed in the camp but said she has learned to make wiser decisions so she can begin a new life.

“It feels good,” she said as armed probation officers kept watch over her and the other camp students. “I’m glad I finally accomplished something in my life.”

Speakers stressed that the high school diplomas and GEDs should not be viewed as the end of their education. Robert Taylor, the county’s chief probation officer, named celebrities and statesmen who have walked USC’s campus: ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, filmmaker George Lucas, former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell.

“You are sharing this stage with some other very important people,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to be a success. Don’t think about failure. Think about the success that lies ahead.”

Keynote speaker Magic Johnson told the teens that he had faced down adversity, and they could too.

“Magic Johnson grew up in the ghetto. Six sisters, three brothers. I went to bed hungry at night. I grew up poor, but I didn’t have poor dreams, I didn’t make excuses,” he said.

He urged them not to let any obstacles or perceived shortcomings hold them back.

“It’s no longer about the color of our skin -- President-elect Obama proves that,” he said. “It’s not about your ZIP Code. I proved that.”

“No, it’s about you,” he said, “carrying on, moving on, believing in yourself, that you can achieve and do great things.”

That’s a message that resonated with Jasmine Saucedo, 18. After she gave birth to her son, Andrew, nine months ago, the Wilmington teenager didn’t know how she could finish her education and work full time. She signed up for independent study and still managed to do her schoolwork after putting in eight hours a day at a refinery in Carson.

“I want to show [my son] that even though people make mistakes, you can still pull yourself up,” she said.

--

seema.mehta@latimes.com