Underprivileged Overachiever A Crenshaw Story

Like too many young people, I grew up amid poverty, homelessness, gang violence and drugs. But unlike many others, I found success. I reached for the skies - literally - and became a multi-decorated graduate of the famed Air Force Academy.
At age fourteen, I ran away, but not from home-because I never had one to begin with. At school I participated in every sport, club, and after-school activity, so that when the other kids finally left, I could settle in for the night by my locker. I spent my childhood dealing with gangs, drugs, violence, and my mother's mental illness, but the real enemy was always poverty.