Homeless student graduates with honors, earns full scholarship

A heartwarming story of hard work and perseverance emerged out of the Lone Star State this summer.

20-year-old Liyjon DeSilva's mother passed away when he was just five years old, and he was bounced around to various family members before finding himself alone and homeless.

Yet, DeSilva never gave up on himself, even when the Margaret Long Wisdom High School student spent nights sleeping in local parking lots in Houston.

On May 27th, the student graduated with honors, and a 3.67 GPA

"What else am I supposed to do? It was either be that or a low life, you know, I could have thrown everything away. I have a chance why not just keep going?" Liyjon explained, "I had a broken heart, you know, but as it begins to mend, as it begins to get better, it's stronger now. I can trust people. I don't have to look in everybody's eyes cynically."

Next up for DeSilva is Carleton College in Minnesota, in which he will attend, on a full scholarship.

"There are too many possibilities to say that it's over. If you're looking at me, if you're able to breath, if you're able to talk, there are too many possibilities to just waste. You have a million dollars already. You're already rich. You just need to get to your bank account," Liyjon said.