Jeremiah Mcparlin’s path to high school graduation wasn’t paved. It was uphill, uneven, filled with hurdles. But he walked it anyway — all the way to the top. And when he crossed the stage in June and received his diploma, at New Beginnings, the charter high school, he did so as the valedictorian.
Mcparlin, 18, is the kind of student whose quiet strength doesn’t always attract notice, until this summer, when it did. Soft-spoken and insightful, he describes himself as “caring, driven, and brave.” He loves nature, science and movies of all kinds.
School wasn’t always within reach. Some mornings, he could barely get out of bed. He struggled with depression, anxiety and the toll of two back surgeries during high school…