LaKesha Faye Johnson, the top Fall 2007 graduate, is congratualted by System President Ralph Slaughter during the December commencement exercises.

Lakesha Johnson rises from GED to Southern's No. 1 grad

Lakesha Faye Johnson said she proved something to herself by just graduating from Southern University. But being the Chief Student Marshal - the graduate with the highest grade point average - means her determination and hard work paid off.

"When I heard that I was the top graduate, I thanked God," Johnson said. "I have worked so hard for this. Many people don't know that I have three children and according to society I am supposed to be a statistic. But I was able to show people that if you work hard you can accomplish your goals."

Johnson, a 28-year-old biology major, graduated with a 3.815 GPA to lead all 535 Fall Semester graduates Friday December 7 in the Felton G. Clark Activity Center on the Baton Rouge campus.

Johnson's road to college graduation has not been easy. Three months before she was to graduate in 1997 from St. Amant High in Ascension Parish, she dropped out of school after her first child was born premature and later died. "My life was bad then. I went into a depression," she said. Afterward, she went to live with and care for her grandmother.

Johnson earned a Graduate Equivalency Diploma two years later but didn't pursue college. She tried a Licensed Practical Nurse program but dropped out of that, too.

Before her grandmother died in 2003, "she told me that I was too smart not to do anything with myself," Johnson said. Encouraged by her grandmother's admonition and "I knew I always wanted to be a doctor," she enrolled at Southern. "I wasn't afraid. I knew I could do it."

And, four years later here's the payoff. "I will be going to Harvard Medical School in January to begin further study before entering medical school," Johnson said. "I want to be a doctor. And, I am going to be a doctor." "

I've never told people about certain parts of my life because people can be so judgmental," she said. "My self esteem is so high now because all of my professors have encouraged me to not hold back and to work hard in everything that I do. Southern has been a second family to me. I have built so many life-long friendships and professional relationships while at this institution. I will never forget my time here."