Oakland's McClymonds High graduates highly accomplished class

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- It's a graduation ceremony that defies the odds. Not only is a West Oakland school graduating all of its 62 seniors, but 97 percent of them are going to college.

"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling accomplished, feeling like I'm finally done," said Destiny Shabazz as she prepared for her graduation ceremony at McClymonds High School. "But I'm not really done because I'm walking out of one school door and into another."

RELATED: 97 percent of graduating class at Oakland school heading to college

Shabazz is headed to Cal State Sacramento in the fall, especially remarkable given the 17-year-old is basically homeless, living alone and renting a room since her guardian and grandmother died two years ago.

"It's been a struggle, but whenever I think about it or my adversities," explained Shabazz. "I think about how other people go through way more than me."

But thanks to the village that is McClymonds, Destiny not only made it through high school, she thrived, earning varsity letters in multiple sports and for the debate team, the reason Sac State gave her a scholarship.

"If I didn't go to McClymonds High School, I don't think I'd be ready for the real world. McClymonds High School and what I went through has prepared me for the rest of my life," she said.

And though it's all about the celebration now, Destiny is well aware that this day, walking across the stage on graduation day, wasn't always her destiny.

"I didn't think I was going to graduate, but then I knew I was going to graduate," she said with a wry smile. "Does that make sense?"

Destiny spends a lot of time at an after school program run by the nonprofit East Bay Consortium. For more information, click here.

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