Shanelle’s Story

After years of suspensions, Shanelle Wade enrolled at Desert Sands at the age of 13. In 2005, during her sophomore year and only 15 years-old she found out she was pregnant. During her junior year, her mother and only supporter passed away from cancer and she was forced to take time away from school to work full-time. In 2009, she re-enrolled at Desert Sands and shortly after, was pregnant again.. Realizing she would now have two children and no high school diploma, she became highly motivated to finish. She refused to be a statistic, changed her mindset, stopped working, and became extremely focused on earning her high school diploma.

In 2010 she graduated from Desert Sands with honors and was a keynote speaker. She went on to graduate Antelope Valley College in 2015 with honors and with an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Later she applied at several top universities including USC, UCLA, University of California Santa Barbara and others and was accepted into EVERY SINGLE one. She chose UCLA and in 2018 graduated as a double major with a Bachelor’s of Art degree in Sociology and Gender Studies. She eventually plans to earn a Master’s Degree in social work, most likely at USC.