A determined man named Anthony Ross has graduated from St. Augustine’s University in the United States with honors in Political Science, despite facing homelessness and limited financial resources.
Anthony’s challenges began at the age of 13, when he lost his grandmother, who was his guardian. After her death, he moved in with his mother, but the house had no utilities due to her struggles with drug addiction.
”After my grandmother died, my sisters and I were living in my mom’s house with no water, heat, or electricity for months due to her drug use,” he shared on Facebook.
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Tragically, after only nine months, Anthony and his sisters had to flee when their mother attempted to kill them with a meat cleaver.
The siblings were separated, with some going to live with their father’s side of the family, while Anthony became homeless, sleeping in cars and shelters in Washington, D.C. He briefly stayed with two aunts from his mother’s side, but the situations were abusive.
“One tried to hit me with the frying pan because she was always stressed out,” Ross said. “The other was an alcoholic who threw my clothes out of her apartment and threw my birth certificate in my face,” he added.
Eventually, Anthony stayed with a family friend in a cramped two-bedroom apartment shared with 14 people. He faced constant mistreatment, including being denied food from the refrigerator and learning that the household was using his name for food stamps and welfare benefits. When he confronted them, he was beaten and kicked out.
Forced to return to a homeless shelter, Anthony described constantly watching his back and protecting his belongings as different people came and went each night.
Unable to attend high school due to his need to work multiple jobs to feed and clothe himself, Anthony enrolled in a General Educational Development (G.E.D.) program at 16.
After earning his G.E.D., he dedicated himself to studying, staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning teaching himself algebra, trigonometry, logarithms, and geometry through YouTube videos.
He also worked with tutors who came to the shelter to help him prepare for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
Anthony’s hard work paid off when he was accepted to St. Augustine’s University. He devoted himself to his studies, spending 4 to 6 hours a day in the library and earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average in his first year.
Despite being overlooked by the foster care system and never assigned a foster family, Anthony found support through friends who invited him to join their families for Thanksgiving dinners and Christmases during school breaks.
At St. Augustine’s University, Anthony served three years in the Student Government Association and was elected Student Body President. He also interned for the youngest appointed District Court Judge in Wake County, gaining valuable experience in the judicial system.
His academic excellence earned him induction into the Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society and Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society. He also consistently made the President’s and Dean’s Lists throughout his time at the university.
In 2013, Anthony graduated with Great Honors (Magna Cum Laude), receiving his departmental award and ranking in the top percentile of his class.
Looking ahead, Anthony aspires to become a lawyer and eventually a federal judge. “I am hungry for education and hope to receive the opportunity to fulfill my dream of becoming one of the best federal judges any law school has ever produced,” he said.
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