Milwaukee Public Schools students celebrate graduation

MILWAUKEE -- Several Milwaukee Public Schools' students graduated on Saturday, June 9th in Milwaukee. One young man shared his personal story about overcoming obstacles while reaching for the stars.

Graduation is the day students dream about, but in order to get to this point, Vincent High School graduate, Judah Jensen, had to overcome obstacles. Jensen's mother died of breast cancer. 

"It was hard just having you and your brother, no father around, grew up in a single family home, just you and your mother, and to end up losing her, you felt like you lost everything, feels like you lose the other part of you.  I use her as inspiration," Jensen said.

At one point, Jensen lived in a shelter. 

"My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, so we ended up moving to different houses. Actually, we got put out of one of the houses. This lady put out our clothes. We had nowhere to go, so we ended up going to a shelter and living there for six months," Jensen said.

Jensen's cousin got custody of him after his mother died. 

"She ended up coming to get my brother and I so we wouldn't have to go into foster care because if she didn't, we would have been in foster care right now," Jensen said.

Despite the life-changing experiences he dealt with, he remained focused on his education and on Saturday, graduated with honors.  Jensen had a 4.0 GPA the past two semesters. 

Jensen's principal admires his strong character. 

"Just an amazing young man. It's a pleasure to be his principal.  I expect humongous things from Judah. I've already dubbed him the next mayor of Milwaukee," Vincent High School Principal Matthew Boswell said.

Jensen plans to attend Bethune-Cookman University in Florida to study computer science.