Queen Quenlatta

19 year old Quenlatta has many reasons to be happy. She recently celebrated her 19th birthday and to top it all off, she was informed that she would be valedictorian of Life Skills Center East. But life for Quenlatta has not always been so pleasant.

Despite growing up in church and maintaining an A average, she did not always have the support and encouragement from her family. Throughout Quenlatta’s life, she constantly had family members telling her how she would never amount to anything and would be a failure. They told her she would be like other girls in her neighborhood as a drop out and have several children. Despite the endless negativity she received, Quenlatta continued to move forward, even receiving tons of achievement awards such as “Student of The Month”. It wasn’t until high school that life for her life turned sour. While attending Finney High School in Detroit, Quenlatta was involved in a fight that got her expelled from all Detroit Public High Schools. Her aunt had informed her about Life Skills, but she was reluctant to attend after hearing that Life Skills was for “bad people” and “dumb people”. Although she wanted to move forward, her life was at a standstill. She could not attend Detroit Public High Schools and had heard nothing but negative things about having to attend an alternative school. Quenlatta really began to fall behind and the even questioned if what her family members had been telling her her whole life was true. It wasn’t until her aunt inspired her and encouraged her to prove naysayers wrong. With the support of her aunt, and a new found sense of motivation, Quenlatta enrolled at Life Skills and got her life back on track. With a little encouragement and a lot of dedication, Quenlatta found herself being valedictorian.

Although she has achieved a lot in her young life, she continues to strive for more. As she puts it “don’t allow people to stop you from dreaming”. She was recently accepted into Michigan State University and plans to go to school to become a Veterinarian. In the mean time she has her hands full with activities. She teaches dance, leads bible study and Sunday school. Quenlatta also enjoys writing poetry (in which she won first place at Covenant Idol), dancing, playing basketball, acting and modeling. To earn extra money, Quenlatta styles hair, and also plans on attending cosmetology school. Despite a lifetime of negativity, she has still managed to overcome. Her determination, strength and perseverance is a testament that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.