“My journey to get where I am now couldn’t have been possible without having Five Keys support. I thought I was never going to experience what it was like to walk the stage, to be able to tell my family and friends that I graduated from high school.
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Destiny Mcghee, a 2019 Five Keys graduate, works on the front line of an emergency response firm dispatching help to the elderly in crisis.
In many ways, Five Keys Schools and Programs was the lifeline that saved her from becoming a statistic. In high school, she repeatedly was told by teachers and administrators to forget about graduating. They told her she did not have the smarts to make it, so she might as well just drop out.
That is what she did.
“I was told from previous schools that I wouldn’t make it, that I was just going to be a high school dropout,” said the Sylmar, CA resident. “Or they’d say that with my grades, I probably won’t get far in life.”
Over the course of the next decade, she internalized their prophesy and lived up to her teacher’s expectations.
“Of course, that made me feel so discouraged, so I gave up,” says Mcghee. When I was 18, I gave up on everything and got so tired of trying that I just moved to Vegas and got away from my problems.”
The oldest of eight, Mcghee started high school in Lancaster, California with great promise.
“When I first started ninth grade I did amazing and I was so excited to be in high school around my friends and learning so much,” she remembers.
But after her freshman year, her mother sent her to live with a relative across the country to Missouri. When she returned to California, Mcghee’s mom told her daughter she would need to home school.
As the oldest, the responsibility of childcare for her siblings, and educating them fell into her lap because her mother was working 24/7.
“I had no help,” says Mcghee. “I was depressed because I didn’t understand anything and finally convinced my mom to let me go to the public high school in 12th grade.”
That is where any hope for high school graduation spiraled out of control. After one semester she was told her home school transcripts did not meet their requirements and she would have to start high school all over.
“I was so broken,” she says. “That’s when I failed.”
Finding Destiny: “You just can’t give up on yourself.”
Fast forward and after living in Vegas for more than five years, Mcghee returned to California to live with her aunt, who just happened to work at Five Keys.
That was the start of her journey.
Before long, Mcghee was enrolled in Five Keys and graduated at 24 with her high school diploma.
She attributes that success to her teacher, LaQuette Milner, or “Mrs. LaQuette” as she calls her.
“She was the most patient teacher I had ever come across, helpful, and wanted everyone in her class to do well,” says Mcghee. “I will never forget Five Keys.”
“I really wish I had something like this when I was younger but very happy I was able to go back and do better for myself,” says Mcghee. “I’m so grateful for the experience. “
Last year, she graduated surrounded by her friends and family.
“I was so proud to finally graduate because I was the only kid out of all of my mom’s children that didn’t graduate from high school yet and the oldest,” she says. “I tell everyone about my story and how this school really makes sure their students succeed. You just cannot give up on yourself, you must keep striving and working hard for a better future for yourself. No one can do it for you.”