Amazing
Student Who Used To Work As Garbage Collector Has Been Accepted Into Harvard Law School
It’s good news for Rehan Staton who recently got admitted into Harvard Law after overcoming some difficulties.
When Staton was eight, life was easy and beautiful. Life had its awesome components—loving parents, a supportive big brother and a comfortable private school education including a homeschool teacher.
Things went awry when his mother abandoned them and jetted off to another country. This would lead to some other issues—his father lost his job and had to hustle three jobs to make ends meet. Food which was once plentiful became a scarce resource. And they had to cope without switching on the thermostat.
“I would have to sleep with a heavy jacket on when it was cold,” Staton said. “I was always angry and hungry. It affected my academic work at school, and I started to perform horribly.”
His academic performances dropped and from being one of the top performers in class, he became one of the worst performers. Staton pointed to the fact that he was always dozing off in class as it was warm there. Getting to seventh grade, the bad academic performances continued and a teacher advised he needed special education. This statement made him lose interest in school.
It was evident something had to be done. Staton’s father went on a trip to the local community center and sought for assistance on who would help teach his son. There, an aerospace engineer proffered to help educate Staton for the rest of the year without collecting a dime.
“I ended up making honor roll the rest of the year,” Staton said. “He was like an uncle or godfather that gave me food and a place to stay sometimes. After we stopped the tutoring sessions, my grades suffered again.”
Staton would spend his high school years training rigorously in his pursuit to be a highly skilled boxer.
“I won a lot of martial arts competitions,” Staton said. “From all my teachers, mentors and classmates — no one ever asked me about school or college. It was always, ‘How’d your tournament go? How’s training? When’s the next match?'”
His dreams on becoming a success through boxing would later suffer a blow when he suffered severe tendinitis in both shoulders. He was unable to wield his arm over his head for months. The injury wasn’t a major career threat and he could recover but since he lacked medical insurance, Staton said physical treatment wasn’t a route to follow.
Now that his aspirations of turning into a pro boxer had suffered a blow, he began applying into colleges desperately. Albeit, he was rejected by all.
Whilst recovering from the injury he suffered, he was employed as a trash collector at a local sanitation company. Many of his colleagues that worked there had gone to prison. They noticed his creativity and intellectual ability which made them ponder: “What are you doing here?”
“They would say, ‘You’re smart,'” Staton said. “You’re too young to be here. Go to college, and come back if it doesn’t work out.”
This was a surprise to Staton as it was the first time someone outside his family and his seventh grade tutor would praise his intellectual ability.
“Teachers, church leaders, and other upper echelon people known for being a role model in society were the ones that never saw anything in me,” Staton said. “It was the sanitation workers that lifted me up to make me even want to go to school.”
Co-workers helped speak to the executives at the sanitation company and Staton was thereafter connected to a professor at Bowie State University—one of the schools that denied his application months ago.
The professor was in awe during their conversation and he persuaded the admissions board to rescind their decision.
Now that he had to go to college, Staton’s older brother, Reggie had to drop out from school. Someone had to work alongside their dad in order to make money, else they would forfeit their house. Staton said it was a decision Reggie made on his own accord.
“My brother knew I’d be stuck if I didn’t jump on this opportunity and go to school because of my grades,” Staton said.
Staton would go on to get a 4.0 and he matriculated to the University of Maryland, where he excelled as the president of the undergraduate history association, history representative for the dean’s cabinet and eventually as the graduation speaker for the class of 2018.
Even as a student, Staton would wake up every morning, persisting in his job as a garbage collector. He was always working two separate shifts between classes. Doing this, he had to stay away from partying.
“I had to give up any sort of social life,” Staton said “I just put my head down and stuck to a schedule to make it all happen.”
After graduation, Staton had a health issue but that didn’t stop him from getting a job at a political consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He passed the LSAT and sent applications to law schools. This he did while working full time.
It would take a while though. In March, Staton learned he’d been accepted into his dream schools—USC, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard.
“It was a surreal moment for me,” Staton said. “It made me feel like my brother and my dad’s sacrifices were not in vain. We did it.”
Staton would eventually settle for Harvard Law School. For people searching for inspiration in these trying times, Staton says “love yourself enough to get what you want out of life. You can always see the light in any dark situation, and you need to hold on to that light.”
A pregnant cat named Athena was found at the Ottawa International Airport, almost two weeks after she disappeared in the parking area. She had traveled from Winnipeg to Ottawa. The team from Furry Tales Cat Rescue discovered her around midnight on a Tuesday, and thankfully, she’s in good shape.
Volunteer Marta Burczycka from Furry Tales Cat Rescue expressed immense joy and gratitude for Athena’s safe return, highlighting her strong maternal instincts to protect her unborn kittens. The rescue operation caught attention after a helpful tip from Blake Fawcett, an employee working near the airport, who notified the rescue team.
Athena was initially sent to Ottawa on March 21 to get better veterinary care and a safe place to have her kittens. Unfortunately, she escaped when her carrier opened accidentally. For 11 days, volunteers and the rescue team worked tirelessly, setting traps and distributing flyers across the airport to find her before she gave birth.
The community effort was huge, with many airport employees and volunteers spreading the word and looking out for Athena. Janice Richard, one of the trappers, mentioned how they found Athena hungry but still pregnant, emphasizing the collective relief and happiness at her safe recovery.
The rescue story ended happily with Athena being taken care of and preparing to have her kittens in a safe and loving environment, thanks to the persistent efforts of the rescue team and the community’s support.
Shania Muhammad became a teacher at just 16 years old, after graduating from college at 15. She grew up in a home where learning was very important. She told “Good Morning America” about how her older brothers and sisters were big influences on her. They did well in school, which inspired her to do the same.
In seventh grade, her father noticed her advanced skills and started preparing her for college entrance exams. This led to her enrolling in college early and feeling like a superhero because she was so young. By 15, she was already finished with college and soon got a job offer to teach.
Muhammad waited until she was 16, so she could drive herself to work, and then started teaching 8-year-old students. These students see her as an adult and respect her, she says. In her classroom, she loves to keep the kids active with group work, presentations, and debates, creating a dynamic and engaging environment.
She encourages open communication in her class, telling her students they can talk about anything with her. Muhammad believes it’s important to have more confidence in success than in failure.
In her conversation with “Good Morning America,” Muhammad shared her view on facing the unknown with courage rather than fear. She encourages people to not hesitate and to create opportunities for themselves if they don’t already exist.
Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) is a group with a big heart and an important mission. Based in Namibia, a country with long, beautiful coastlines, OCN is dedicated to saving seals, especially the cute baby ones, from dangerous plastic and fishing lines.
Imagine you’re at the beach, and you see a group of seals playing and lounging around. Suddenly, you notice something’s wrong. One of the seals is stuck, tangled up in a mess of plastic or fishing line. It’s struggling and can’t get free. That’s where OCN comes in.
The team at OCN, led by Katja and Naude Dreyer, a married couple passionate about the ocean and its creatures, runs across the beach, right into the groups of seals. They’re on a mission to find any seal that’s trapped in harmful debris. Once they spot a tangled seal, they quickly and carefully cut off the entangling mess and set the seal free.
Since 2020, OCN has rescued about 3,000 seals! That’s a lot of happy, healthy seals swimming back in the ocean because of their efforts. Their rescue missions became super popular online during the pandemic. People all over the world watched their videos, feeling a bit better seeing the seals being saved during tough times.
OCN’s work is unique and impactful. Jeff Harris, a research ecologist, mentioned that the number of seals OCN saves is much higher than in other parts of the world. While he managed to free 100 sea lions in his best year, OCN often saves that many seals in just a month!
The Dreyers started OCN about twelve years ago. Initially, Naude would try to free the seals using a paddle or by grabbing them, but it was tough. Things got better when they received a special seal rescue net, making their missions easier and safer.
During the pandemic, when their kayaking business paused, they focused even more on rescuing seals. They also shared their work online, touching people’s hearts worldwide. Their video titled “Baby seal thanks his rescuers” got over a million views!
OCN not only raises awareness about the seals but also shows us the bigger problem – our oceans are filled with trash. They’ve shown that every little bit helps and that we can all do something to protect our marine life.
With donations from kind-hearted people, OCN has grown, now having a team of seven dedicated members. They’re doing more than just rescuing seals; they’re inspiring others to care about our oceans and the creatures that call them home. The Dreyers themselves have even changed their lifestyle, choosing not to eat fish and other animal products, to live in a way that respects the animals they work so hard to save.
So, Ocean Conservation Namibia is not just about saving seals; it’s about changing the way we see and treat our oceans, one rescue at a time.
In a heart-stopping incident in New Orleans, a school bus driver named Kia Rousseve became a local hero when she saved nine students from a burning bus. Her quick actions turned a potentially tragic situation into a story of courage and quick thinking.
It was a regular Wednesday morning, and Rousseve was on her usual route, about to make her fifth stop, when she noticed something alarming: smoke was coming from the bus. Without a moment’s hesitation, she knew she had to act fast. “As soon as I seen the bus smoking, my instinct was get them off of the bus,” Rousseve recounted.
A little girl on the bus ran up to her and confirmed her fears, saying the bus was on fire underneath. Rousseve didn’t waste a second. She stopped the bus and made sure all the students got off safely. “I turned the bus off and got off. When I got off, the bus blew up,” she said, describing the terrifying sounds of the explosions.
Rousseve’s primary thought during the ordeal was her child, which fueled her determination to ensure the safety of all the students on board. Her employer, Community Academies of New Orleans, praised her actions as “Courage on wheels.” Having driven school buses for three years, Rousseve demonstrated experience and bravery that day.
Feeling grateful and proud, Rousseve believes a faulty alternator was the cause of the fire. She’s relieved and happy that she could save the lives of the children, as well as her own. “I feel great about saving other kids’ lives and saving my life,” she expressed, adding that she felt divine protection was at play during the emergency.
Mackenzie Scott has made headlines again with her generous donations to nonprofit organizations. Initially, Scott promised to give $1 million each to 250 nonprofits, but she surprised everyone by more than doubling her donation! Now, she’s giving a whopping $640 million to 361 organizations.
So, who is Mackenzie Scott? She’s a billionaire philanthropist who likes to help out by giving her money to groups that do good things for communities. This time, her organization, Yield Giving, decided to help even more than planned because of the great work these nonprofits are doing.
Scott worked with an organization called Lever for Change to find these nonprofits. They had a big, open call where nonprofits could apply for the money, and the response was amazing. Lever for Change said they were so impressed by the work these groups are doing that they wanted to give money to more of them.
Here’s how it broke down: 279 top-rated nonprofits got $2 million each, while another 82 organizations received $1 million each. These groups do all sorts of important work, like helping people get back on their feet after being in jail, or creating theater programs with young people in Los Angeles.
What’s really cool is how they decided who got the money. It wasn’t just a few people making all the decisions. Instead, the nonprofits got to score each other, and then a panel of experts made the final picks. This way, lots of different voices helped choose the winners.
Scott and her team believe it’s important to shine a light on these organizations that are making big changes but might not always get noticed. They want to make sure these groups have what they need to keep doing their great work.
Mackenzie Scott said sharing information about these donations is important because it helps others see the good that comes from giving. She hopes that by talking about it, more people will be inspired to help out in their own ways.
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