The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Homeless teen is high school valedictorian
Rebecca Schmitt excels at studies while taking care of her mother, who has cancer, in Atlanta.
At age 12, Rebecca Schmitt had to grow up quickly.
In the span of four years, her mother, Sandra, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, lost her job as a Realtor and lost her home, leaving them homeless.
Since then, Schmitt has had to care for her mom while managing her studies. One of the first things she said she had to do was create a stress-free environment for her mom.
“Because of that, I had to mature before my peers,” Schmitt said. And, indeed, she did. With a 4.2 grade-point average, the 16-year-old Schmitt is valedictorian at Maynard Jackson High School in southeast Atlanta.
She has been admitted to three colleges thus far: Spelman College, Georgia Tech, and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
And she recently received $1,750 in scholarship money from The Dukes Foundation and The Robin Latimore Foundation.
“I don’t want to have a sense of entitlement,” Schmitt said. “So the fact that someone found it in their heart to give those to me is wonderful.”
Schmitt has a history of excelling — she skipped the fourth grade.
But not long after that, things turned very tough for Schmitt and her mother.
As a real estate agent in West Palm Beach, Fla., Schmitt’s mom struggled at the start of the Great Recession in 2008. Then in 2010, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable cancer that affects the plasma cells in bone marrow.
The family flew to Massachusetts General Hospital. “After her bone marrow transplant (in 2012), my mom was rendered disabled and unable to work,” Schmitt said.
By October 2014, they’d lost their home to foreclosure.
They moved to San Diego in pursuit of the best health care. But when they could no longer afford it, they moved to Atlanta in August 2015.
Schmitt’s mom undergoes chemotherapy 21 days each month at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University.
Meanwhile, the two live in a hotel.
As a student who’s homeless, Schmitt isn’t alone in her predicament.
According to a 2016 U.S. Department of Education report, there were more than 1.3 million homeless children and youths enrolled in public schools across America during the 201314 school year. In Georgia, there were 37,963 homeless students during that span, the seventh-highest total in the nation.
And according to Atlanta Public Schools, about 1,800 of its 52,000 students are homeless.
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council defines being homeless as living in “a shelter, mission, single-room occupancy facility, abandoned building or car, or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation.”
Schmitt said school officials didn’t know she was homeless until she had trouble getting to school. She was then contacted by the district and offered help.
She said she’s thankful for the support the school district has shown her. In December she was given a computer, a coat, a book bag and some books.
“It’s one of the more positive moments of the year,” said the talented teen, who serves as student government secretary, is a member of the National Honor Society, plays in the school orchestra, and is captain of the tennis team (she was MVP last spring).
How does she juggle such a busy schedule? Schmitt said it’s all about time management.
The honor student spends about four hours each day caring for her mother. The rest of the time, it’s about school.
But as college acceptance letters arrive, they bring a fear of separation to mother and daughter. Schmitt wants to be able to check on her mom, no matter her studies.
“We discussed the possibility of my mom moving wherever I go to college,” Schmitt said. “Home is where the heart is, and we can always build a new home.”
And speaking of the heart, Schmitt has hers set on being a teacher.
“My teachers have inspired me so much ... that I’d like to continue that cycle of inspiration.”