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• Gallery: Graduation Ceremony for the Cabell County Youth Empowerment Program

HUNTINGTON -- The best things in life are not without struggle, but one group of local students rose above challenges to receive their GEDs on Thursday.

"You're a special group of people," said William A. Smith, superintendent of Cabell County Schools and guest speaker at Thursday's graduation ceremony at the Douglass Centre Auditorium.

Sixteen students were recognized during the graduation ceremony for the Cabell County Youth Empowerment Program. Students also were recognized for achievements in the Resident Opportunities and Supportive Services program, which offers on-the-job training and is sponsored by the Huntington West Virginia Housing Authority.

Smith said many of the graduates faced a number of struggles, but graduation was a rite of passage and a key to opportunity in their lives.

Graduate Dominique Wade, 20, said he knew he had to obtain his GED if he didn't want doors to slam in his face.

"I just realized, if you want anything to happen in your world, you've got to have an education," he said.

Student support specialist Michelle Perdue said she came to know the students very well during the program. She's seen many of them cry and some even want to give up.

Wade said Perdue went out of her way to make sure he and others didn't quit.

Roderick Johnson, 19, said he and some of his fellow graduates used to attend Huntington High School. In the Cabell County Youth Empowerment Program, he said staff seemed more caring and attentive, going above and beyond to help students.

"I'm happy to see my friends graduate. Even though we didn't finish high school, we're still graduating together," he said.

Johnson said he now plans to attend junior college and then Marshall to study business management.

Wade is now working for the Huntington Housing Authority and has been accepted to Marshall University this fall. He plans to major in business management and minor in graphic design.

Graduate LaCandace Hamlin, 21, is also working and was accepted to Marshall this fall. She plans to study counseling and later attend West Virginia University.

"I've been waiting for this for so long. It's just a really great day," she said Thursday. "I'd been out of school for three years. I didn't want to repeat what my parents did. They didn't go to college."

Smith told students not to listen to anyone who said that they could not succeed.

Years ago, Smith said he never imagined he would become the superintendent of Cabell County Schools. He grew up on 10th Avenue in a large family with parents who worked multiple jobs.

"This world is not designed for things to just fall into your lap," he said. "Things that come easy to you don't mean anything to you."

Smith said struggle makes people stronger and is proven necessary in everything from the story of Jacob in the Bible to nature, as seeds fight to grow and chicks struggle to crack from their eggs.

"Be willing to struggle. Be willing to break through the egg," he said.

Everyone faces challenges and everyone gets tired, he said, but he asked the new graduates to keep pushing forward. He said to have a dream and go after it.

"Keep walking. Keep climbing the stairs. One day you'll look back and say, 'I don't know how I did it, but I did.'"

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Students throw their caps in the air after being honored by the Cabell County Youth Empowerment Program for receiving GEDs on Thursday, May 14, 2009, at the Douglass Center.

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