Bay Area Students Turning Life's Hardships Into Academic Excellence

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- 90 percent of our Students Rising Above scholars graduate college within four and a half years. Here's an update on two students are on their way to that success: Tommy Saephan and Damont Hardnett.

We first met Damont Hardnett when he was senior at Santa Clara High School, as well as president of the Black Student Union and captain of the varsity basketball team. He has a charm that breaks down barriers.

"He comes into classrooms and he'll do his thing … and he leaves by saying 'have a great day at Santa Clara High!'" said his counselor, Tina Rainbolt. "It's just the cutest thing."

Rainbolt was one of the few who knew how difficult all this was for Damont.

His father was in and out of jail and eventually left when his mother called the police after a fight. Damont says he rarely told anyone about that. "It hurt me, and for my friends to know they can bring that up anytime and it could hurt 10 times more," he said.

Damont's mom struggled to raise him and his two brothers. Money was always tight, so as soon as he was legally able (15 and a half), Damont got a job working 16 hours a week after school - to help make ends meet.  He did this and more for his mom. "Sometimes, I just give her money, (and she's) like, 'What is this for?' It's for you. Whatever bills you want to put it towards, if you want to spend it for yourself. It's for you."

Going to college was always an aspiration for him but more of a dream than anything. "Since I was young, (I wondered) how would it be like to go to a four-year university? Like, how can I do that?" he told us.  "Just dreaming about it, and now, it's about to become my reality? That… is just amazing to me." Students Rising Above helped make it a reality. Damont is now a sophomore at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, majoring in Business.

When we first met Tommy Saephan, he was living with his aunt, uncle, and their kids. There were 9 people in the house, and it was exactly what Tommy needed. He described his uncle and aunt this way: "They've given me hope. I think that's the biggest thing they could give to me."

Tommy's life was not always so hopeful. His family lived through the Vietnam War, and education was out of reach for them. But when Tommy got to go to school it was much more than a place to learn. It was safe there, while at home, he was living in fear.

"In the eighth grade, I never wanted to go home. I'd go home at 5. I'd find every reason to stay at school," he remembered. His mother's boyfriend was violent and used drugs. The fighting was constant, and one day he saw the boyfriend attacking his mother. "His hands were on her throat and he was screaming at her," he said. "And I remember a couple days before he threatened to kill her if she ever called the police."

Eventually, Tommy told his Uncle Kau, who called Child Protective Services. His uncle didn't want the withdrawn little boy to become a ward of the court, so he took him in. "We didn't want him to go through that. No child should have to go thru that," Tommy's uncle said. "Living in fear of someone trying to hurt their family."

Once he was in a safe place, Tommy could focus on school where he excelled.

He earned two associate degrees before he even graduated Middle College High School. His family is now his motivation, "I believe my family sees me as, I guess, the end of the cycle of poverty, that, you know, my family has been experiencing." Tommy is now a rising sophomore at UC Berkeley.

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