A Louisiana teenager living in a homeless shelter has graduated at the top of his high school class.
According to Good Morning America, Elijah Hogan, 19, was named one of the valedictorians of Walter L. Cohen High School's Class of 2024.
Hogan accomplished the feat while living in Covenant House, a homeless shelter that serves youth under 22 in New Orleans. He finished school with a 3.93 GPA.
During his graduation speech, Hogan said it was “a thank-you letter to the school, to the staff, to the students, and to their parents for helping us to get past our school years and get us where we are now graduating, going off in the world.”
Hogan also thanked Jarkayla Cobb, his Rites of Passage case worker at Covenant House.
Cobb said she's watched Hogan come out of his shell over his years at the shelter.
“Being in a homeless shelter is traumatic. Whatever you went through to get you here is traumatic,” Cobb told GMA.
“He was very shy,” she continued. “He had very little words at first, so it’s just awesome to see how much he’s developed and become so well-spoken over the last seven or eight months that I’ve been a part of his life and just been able to push and encourage him to go after everything that the world has to offer.”
Hogan plans to attend Xavier University in the fall and major in graphic design.
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