Formerly homeless Bronxwood Preparatory Academy senior Brianna Watts was accepted to all of the 12 universities and three community colleges to which she applied.

Brianna had spent nine months living at a Manhattan shelter with her mother, recovering addict, before she entered freshman year. Her mother regained custody of her kids once she got clean and moved her family into supportive housing in the Bronx.

Her mother, Bridgette Gibbs, says she didn't want her daughter's story to end up like hers and she advised her daughter to reflect on her low points as a warning.

Brianna got the message and got her grades up. Around the same time, her mother started attending classes at Bronx Community College.

Brianna says she is still unsure what school she will accept, especially since schools she didn't even apply to are now reaching out after hearing her story.

"Everything that happens around you doesn't make you who you are. You make you who you are," Brianna says.