Darrion Cockrell: Ex-gang member named teacher of the year
- A former gang member has shown that people can achieve their dreams irrespective of their ugly past
- Darrion Cockrell became a teacher despite being a former gang member and went on to win the the 2021 Missouri Teacher of the Year award
- Darrion joined the gang when he was 10 but he had his life turned around when he was adopted by a football coach and his wife
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A former gang member in the United States who turned his life around has been named the 2021 Missouri Teacher of the Year.
In a report by Lad Bible, Darrion Cockrell said he joined the Six-deuce-87 Kitchen Crip gangster at the age of 10.
The physical education teacher at Crestwood Elementary, St. Louis, made the disclosure in his acceptance speech for the award.
Cockrell, whose mother was a drug addict and whose father was murdered when he was four, said he felt like he was born just to fail while growing up.
His life began to have meaning when he was adopted by a football coach and his wife who sent him to another school.
Source: UGC
In his words:
"My new teachers truly cared. They pushed me and my family. They supported us immensely. Those experiences and connections changed my perspective on both people and school."
In other news, a Nigerian woman identified as Nwamaka Oparaoji has taken to social media to narrate how she survived since she lost her father at the age of nine.
Nwamaka, who took to her LinkedIn page to share her story, said she travelled to the United States with a bachelor's degree and worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through window.
According to her, she made $50 per week, took three buses to work and got paid $5.60 per hour.
The woman, who said she was given a childhood pet name that means worthless woman, disclosed that she also worked as a nursing assistant.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
