Columnist Sandy Thompson: Teen beats overwhelming odds to succeed

Sandy Thompson

Friday, June 15, 2001 | 4:54 a.m.

Sandy Thompson is vice president/associate editor of the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4025 or e-mail at thompson@lasvegassun.com

IN HIS 17-YEAR life, Stephen and his family moved 85 times. When they got behind on the rent, they went from apartments to campsites, from weekly hotels to the streets.

At one time, Stephen, his parents and his three younger brothers lived in the back of his father's old pickup truck during the day. At night, they slept in a city park or another secluded spot.

During another stretch of homelessness, the family lived at a makeshift campsite in the desert. Sometimes they didn't have enough water for such luxuries as showers. When they did, Stephen took a sponge bath.

His father and mother worked some of the time, but alcohol, drugs and gambling ate up most of their earnings. Sometimes because of his work schedule, the father dropped off Stephen at high school at 2:30 a.m. Stephen would find a secluded spot to sleep and wait for the school doors to open. He stayed in the school library way past the last class, which attracted the attention of the librarian. He then confided to her that the family was homeless. She alerted Child Protective Services, and Stephen and his brothers were sent to Child Haven for several months. For some inexplicable reason, they were returned to their parents, but life did not get better.

Stephen says he tried to set a good example for his brothers -- one that was vastly different from his parents'. But the boys are following the same pattern as the parents. Stephen's 16-year-old brother has been in trouble with the law. The 15-year-old and 12-year-old did not attend school this year.

Stephen, however, chose a different path.

Instead of turning to drugs, he joined school clubs. He was president of the National Honor Society and vice president of DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), a business club. He was a member of the Environmental Club, Spanish Club and Bible Club.

Ignoring his father's badgering to quit school and go to work, Stephen studied harder. Despite the constant moves, Stephen rarely missed class.

Last week the boy who couldn't read until he was in the fourth grade graduated from high school with honors. His weighted grade-point average was 4.0; he ranked 24th in a class of 420. He has been accepted at the University of Oregon, which he will attend in the fall to study marine biology.

Stephen's strength and determination to succeed are remarkable. He has beaten overwhelming odds, yet he talks about his tumultuous childhood in soft tones, almost casually.

"The way I look at things, it might sound bad," he says. "But I am a real optimist. People may have more things, but they are worse off than I am."

To what does he attribute his inner drive to stay on the right path amid such adverse conditions?

"I have a real need to go beyond my family to make something of myself," Stephen says. He also found strength in religion, often praying to God to help him "get through one more day."

All Stephen's accomplishments have been made independently of his parents. They never attended any school function, parent-teacher meeting or school ceremony where he received an award. Except to give a needed signature or two on paperwork, his parents have no interest in his college aspirations.

Last Thursday, Stephen was awarded the Ryan Witt Scholarship, named for former School Board member Judy Witt's teenage son who was hit by a car and killed. (Because of his family circumstances, Stephen preferred not to have his last name used for this column.) In a brief ceremony at the School Board meeting, Stephen accepted the $500 award, saying he could not have made it without his "angel" -- the school librarian with whom he formed a close bond. The audience gave him a standing ovation. The librarian looked on proudly. His parents were not there.

This summer, Stephen plans on getting a full-time job. Although he has a few small scholarship awards and one that covers books and tuition at the University of Oregon, he still needs money for room and board and other expenses.

"I'm ecstatic about going to Oregon," he says. His love of the ocean and dolphins led to his "fascination" with marine biology. By the way, he earned A's in all his high school science courses.

The librarian describes Stephen as a "generous, kind, intelligent young man who isn't afraid to work hard at what he believes is right."

"I am amazed at his tenacity and drive, and the strength of his personal values and convictions," she says.

Stephen's ultimate goal in life is to have a wife and family, and take care of them. Unlike his own parents, he wants to do things for his children.

Stephen has a mature sense of who he is, where he has been and where he's going.

"I may have had hard times, but a lot of people have helped me," he says, adding that he wants to repay them someday by being in a position to help others.

"I see all the stuff that happened to me as a good thing. Otherwise, I would not have had the ambition I have."