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Washington, D.C. Beat the Odds® Awards Luncheon 2008
May 19, 2008 - May 19, 2008CDF honored five Washington, D.C., area upcoming high school seniors who have overcome tremendous adversity to demonstrate academic excellence and give back to their communities during the 2008 Beat the Odds Awards Luncheon. Actress and comedienne Ali Wentworth and ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos hosted the event. More Information
Michael A. Dejene
When Michael was five years old, his family was pulled apart. While living in Ethiopia, his older sister was sent to the United States for treatment of severe asthma not offered in their country, and their father left for the U.S. on a college scholarship. Michael’s mother was left to raise Michael and his three siblings in Ethiopia with the hope of one day reuniting the family. In 2005, his family was able to move to America only to discover Michael’s father was hospitalized and receiving medical treatment for brain cancer. Six months after arriving in America, Michael’s father passed away. The months that followed his father’s passing were some of the darkest of Michael’s life, and he could not see a future for himself while his family struggled to adjust to American culture. But Michael quickly recovered and assumed responsibility for taking care of his family, at a time when his mother was trying to transition out of federal assistance while facing the overwhelming burden of taking care of her four children.
Through all of it, Michael's light at the end of the tunnel has been a steadfast love of education—not just for his own interests, but also as a way of fulfilling his father's dreams for his family. Michael is not only an outstanding student, but has become an active member in the Ethiopian community in D.C., hoping to educate and share with others the diversity and richness of the international community. To Michael, beating the odds means embracing higher education as a dream for himself, his father, his family and his community.
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