LISTEN to this Good News Guru story, which was broadcast on the radio June 1st with Ellen K and Geri on KOST-103.5. (Subscribe to our new podcast on iTunes – or for Androids, on Podbean) — or READ the story below…
When Richard Jenkins was a kid, he was always raising his hand in class—so much so, that his peers began mocking him, tauntingly calling him “Harvard” to make him feel bad for participating.
An inner-city kid in Philadelphia, his family lost their home to foreclosure when he was in 6th grade. He and his two brothers spent the next two years moving in and out of homeless shelters and hotels across Florida and Tennessee.
As they struggled to find stability, the boy realized that a good education could be the means to escape such hardship. After that, he consistently earned good grades, even while fighting terrible migraine headaches that plagued him from all the stress.
“And then my dad had a heart attack,” Richard told WHYY. “In the summer of the eighth grade it got really bad. I got hospitalized; they put me on every medicine they had.”
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“But I was eventually able to fight through it and get my work done, because at the end of the day, that was what was…
