When Gwyndalyn found her family after walking across the stage and accepting her diploma, they were sobbing.

“I do realize it IS a huge accomplishment in my family,” Gwyndalyn says. “My sister and I are the first generation in my entire family to graduate from high school. Looking back, it is amazing with all the obstacles I faced. My freshman year, I didn’t think it could happen—because of my hard family situation before we arrived and Joshua Station. I had to switch schools and was out of school for some months in all the transitions.” The pandemic threw new twists of course.

Gwyndalyn credits the support of her “amazing grandma,” Gwyneth, who has been raising four grandchildren at Joshua Station. Longtime family friends stepped in, as well as more recent “chosen family,” to fill gaps her immediate family had left. Joshua Station staff, including Education Liaison Benjamin Armas, played key roles in helping her get established in high school and eventually connected her with college programs and funding.

Two teachers in particular made an impact in very different ways. One teacher frequently made racially biased and otherwise toxic comments, making Gwyndalyn and others feel they didn’t belong. He called out students without fathers in the home, or whose families lacked a college history, saying they were destined to never graduate. Gwyndalyn decided to dig deep and take action.

Advocacy by Gwyndalyn and her grandmother, as well as other families, resulted in the longtime teacher’s firing. “I thought about that man as I walked across the stage. He had given me extra motivation to press on.”

When Gwyndalyn struggled with math, another teacher went extra miles. “I kept asking for help, and she always took time. I didn’t like asking, but I became good at reaching out. Throughout school, I ended up reaching out to many people.” She sees both her personal determination and her ability to seek help, as strengths that have served her most.

In the Joshua Station courtyard, Gwyndalyn celebrated her graduation in traditional regalia of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, of which she is an enrolled tribal member. She stood adorned with beadwork earrings that are the work of her hands, and a medallion necklace that took her grandmother months to create. An Indigenous elder led a ceremony of blessing with drum, flute, smoke, and prayers. “You are part of a great journey,” he told Gwyndalyn, “a trail of tears and of perseverance.” He was making clear reference to the historical atrocity of forced tribal relocation from Florida. And, he used the same words to describe the path of Gwyndalyn’s personal achievement through a childhood challenged by uprootedness.

Gwyndalyn’s final GPA? Straight As… 4.0. A top student, bound for Metropolitan State University in the fall, with her sights on a Ph.D.  Blazing quite a trail.