GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? A week before her high school graduation, Alexandria Stephenson found herself homeless. Because of family problems, the honor student was kicked out of her house in West Palm Beach and was living out of her truck, looking at a future of insurmountable obstacles and disappointment.
Instead, Stephenson, 21, will graduate from the University of Florida with honors this semester with a bachelor?s degree in public relations and an international business minor. She will be among more than 9,000 students graduating the first weekend in May.
?It?s amazing to be a Florida Gator,? she said. ?Gainesville gave me my life back.?
Stephenson spent the summer after her high school graduation in her truck. She had been collecting money in a savings account by doing odd jobs since she was 14, so she had enough money for her basic needs.
?I had nowhere to go,? she said. ?It was the only option I had.?
In high school, she had been offered a full scholarship at Palm Beach Community College, where she enrolled in August 2005 while still homeless.
By that time, she had found a job at a restaurant through a friend and was working 40-plus hours a week. She parked at the restaurant and stretched out in the cab of her truck to sleep. Occasionally, she parked at her best friend?s apartment complex, where she could also clean up. Eventually, she was able to live in an apartment.
Despite major setbacks, Stephenson graduated from Palm Beach Community College with an associate?s degree in public relations. She then set her sights on a bachelor?s degree and UF.
?I applied to UF thinking ?there?s no way I?m going to get in there,?? she said.
That was in 2007. Now, Stephenson has an apartment with a reliable roommate, a 3.8 grade point average, and a place to call home. ?I have two little air mattresses stacked in my room,? she said with a laugh. ?I?m like, ?this is the life.??
Stephenson said she chose public relations and international business because of their versatility and UF?s top-notch programs.
?Public relations is a broad major, and UF has an amazing public relations program,? she said. ?And I feel like international business is where the focus is going lately.?
Her ultimate goal is to graduate with a master?s degree without loans.
?With the Gator Nation behind me, I feel like I can do anything,? she said.
?There are times when I walk through this campus, and I have to just stop and look. When I came to Gainesville, I found my home. I?ve met my family here.?
