Brooklyn teenager Johileny Meran was all smiles Friday as she received her high school diploma. But her journey to graduation day wasn't easy.
Meran has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She was bullied as a child, grew up in a homeless shelter and lost her mom to cancer five years ago. The odds seemed stacked against her.
But she was motivated to not only get her diploma from Juan Morel Campos Secondary School, but to walk away with top honors. She was named valedictorian and received a full scholarship to New York University.
"I made it through. I was able to overcome many of the things that stood in my way," she said.
Her commencement speech Friday brought family members and classmates to tears.
Her uncle beamed as he said, "It's a good feeling when somebody have the power, the inspiration to keep going, working for something she believed in."
"The best thing about her, she doesn't give up," Meran's counselor Mariela Regaldo said.
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Meran plans to study neuroscience at NYU and join the fight against cancer, a disease that taught her about loss and also about overcoming adversity.
"It inspired, she inspired me to keep going and that's why I'm here today."
