NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - One senior at American Senior High School is using his strength in overcoming life’s challenges to help inspire others to do the same.
Dewayne Martin is graduating with a 4.5 weighted GPA but said the road to getting there wasn’t easy.
“I was born with glaucoma and a speech impediment,” said Martin.
He also grew up in the inner city and said adversity fueled him.
“Issues of like access and things of that sort have always been critical to me,” Martin said.
His mom, Monique Simpkins, said ever since Martin was a little boy she knew he was different.
“At a very young age, he’s always been a leader,” said Simpkins. “I never had to help him with the homework, never had to do anything. He just went out and did it.”
Simpkins said throughout the years, he’s continued to impress not only her but so many others as well.
In middle school, Martin started a debate team and later did the same in high school.
“Debate became a space where we had a community,” he said.
Martin could be heard in a video telling another classmate, “If at any time you feel lost or you feel like you’re about to cry or anything, come and talk to me.”
He said, through debate, he has been exposed to hundreds of opportunities including access to several scholarships that will pay for college.
Martin will attend Hamilton College in New York during the fall.
“I’ll be majoring in public policy and economics,” Martin said.
He said the biggest reward is passing information along to his peers.
Martin has mentored hundreds of students throughout his time in high school.
“Helping out with scholarships, helping out with college applications, talking about things you’re going through and how you can move forward throughout that,” he said.
That’s a virtue he said he learned from his role model: his mother.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’re going to fall for anything,” Simpkins said.
“I really care, and I really see potential in every single student,” Martin said.
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