Freeport teen who faced homelessness writes moving college essay honoring teacher
Johan Zapata, 19, is a senior at Freeport High School and has faced challenges that not a lot of kids face, including homelessness and starting over.
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Every high school student is excited for graduation, including 19-year-old Johan Zapata.
"I'm really excited. I'm really proud of myself," Zapata said. "I worked so hard."
Zapata is a senior at Freeport High School and has faced challenges that not a lot of kids face, including homelessness and starting over.
He's from the Dominican Republic and then moved to the United States to live with his mom and her boyfriend.
"Really bad for one year. One day, I said I can't be here," he said
He now lives at Walkabout, a transitional housing program for homeless youth in Freeport and has been living there for about a year. The Family & Children's Association runs the program.
"We are a family. You can feel love here," Zapata said.
He juggles a job and his classes, and now he's only weeks away from graduation.
This fall, he's starting college at SUNY Old Westbury. He wrote his college essay about his social studies teacher, Cynthia Certain, and the impact she's had on his life both at school and getting into the Walkabout program.
"She told me about the program, and she called the program for me," Zapata said. "Whatever I want, I can be, and she showed me."
"He never let those obstacles hinder him in his academic or in his personality," Certain said.
Zapata's essay means a lot to Certain, especially the part about his future goals.
"When I go to college. I want to be a teacher, a global history teacher because I love history," he said.
"I cried as I was very surprised," Certain said. "I think he would make an amazing teacher. He has the heart for it, for sure."
