THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507010114
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CLAUDINE R. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
CRIME, CORNER DRUG DEALERS and unwed teenage mothers gave Aisha Durham strength, tenacity and determination to want a better way of life.
In an age plagued by high school dropouts, Durham, 18, has beaten the odds. She graduated with honors last month from Lake Taylor High School.
She finished with a 3.27 grade-point average and expects to study journalism when she leaves for Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall.
Lake Taylor High teachers awarded her the English Award, and she was the featured speaker for this year's senior banquet.
Durham is the kind of student that teachers like to teach, Lake Taylor guidance counselor David Mitnick said.
``She is not gifted,'' he said. ``She is a hard worker. School does not come easy to her. She applies herself until she is happy with her work.''
For Durham, satisfactory grades are just not good enough. Getting a ``C'' in some classes is like failing, she says.
``It's not what you can do to get by,'' she said. ``It's what you can do to excel.''
Success has come Durham's way - in the form of $6,500 in scholarships to attend VCU in Richmond.
``... I am able to see the positives of life, instead of the negatives that surround me,'' Durham wrote in an application essay. ``When I began to realize this, I began to share with the world the poetry of my life.''
At 12, Durham used poetry as a way to express her thoughts and struggles from growing up in public housing.
Words became a safe haven for Durham. They were a way to escape the drugs and soaring crime rate that pounced on the Diggs Town area of Norfolk.
At Lake Taylor, Durham used her writing to provide a voice for others. As a columnist for Titan Times, the school newspaper, articles about black/white relationships, teenage abuse and preventing sexually transmitted disease provided a common ground for discussing issues.
Outside of school, she is co-editor of the Disciple's Tribune, her church newsletter. She also tutors children at the Diggs Town Recreational Center.
Perhaps Durham's mother, Sharon, taught her the most important lessons of all:
Don't look for handouts. Nothing comes free. Get it yourself and then you will appreciate it.
Durham took her mother's lessons to heart.
She spent her weekends writing essays for scholarship applications. She collected teacher recommendations and typed them all on her word processor. She didn't wait for anyone to hand her an application.
``I knew that I wanted to go to college, and I knew that I didn't have the money to go,'' Durham said. ``I researched scholarships in Essence magazine, I went to the library, and I took it upon myself to turn applications in.''
Although her mother remembers rolling out of bed to duck nighttime gunfire, Durham says her neighborhood has inspired her.
``I have a greater respect for life than some people,'' Durham says. ``I see the struggles the black male go through. I see people who don't have food on their table. Without having food on your table, you are grateful for what you have.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
Aisha Durham, who lives in Diggs Town on Berkley Avenue, graduated
with honors last month from Lake Taylor High School.
by CNB