You can pull through, don’t quit, don’t settle

The weather is beautiful, PowerPoints are inducing more in-classroom sleep than usual, and we are all counting down the days till this semester is over.

For many of us, spring break was a cruel joke of what our lives could be without these pesky classes, internships and jobs.

Assuming most of you feel the same way I do — which is pure angst — I thought of things that could motivate us to focus and finish the semester with good grades and few regrets.
Writing the top 10 study tips did not sound appealing, and I'm guessing you would not read it.

So instead I'll tell you a story about a fellow UCF student who struggled with scenarios worse than the choice between studying for a test or attending a pool party.

Lalita Booth's story of success will surely set you straight for the rest of semester.

Booth was born in North Carolina where she lived with her parents before their divorce.

She was distraught when her family broke apart. Her fragile nature was taken advantage of by a family acquaintance, and she was abused as a teenager.

She was legally emancipated from her parents and dropped out of high school to support herself.

Being on her own did not go well, and Booth ended up abusing drugs, getting married and having a baby all before her 18th birthday.

Her husband joined the Army and left Booth to fend for herself and her baby. She ended up living out of her car with her child.

After about four years of homelessness and single motherhood, Booth enrolled at Seminole Community College to start a new chapter in her life. She did great at what is now Seminole State College, graduated and transferred to UCF.

Putting the past behind her, Booth made a new life for herself at UCF. She arrived in 2006 and started a nonprofit, the Lighthouse for Dreams Financial Literacy Project, which helps teach teens and foster children how to manage money.

Booth graduated from UCF in 2009 with honors and degrees in accounting and finance.

She was the College of Business Administration's Top Honor Graduate.

But Booth did not stop there.

While some people take time to celebrate their college success after graduation, Booth kept moving. She went from being homeless to attending Harvard University.

Last week, Booth appeared on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric during a segment titled "The American Spirit." She caught America up on her past struggles and her new life.

She rolls her backpack full of books around Harvard's campus where she is earning a master's degree in business and public policy. In addition to her classes, Booth lobbies for single mothers on Capitol Hill.

Booth told CBS that "it's an amazing feeling."

I do not know the personal past of every UCF student, but I think it is safe to assume that most of us were lucky enough to not experience a past similar to Booth's.

Her dedication to make the best out of her life despite outside obstacles should inspire all of us. Suddenly going to class on time doesn't sound so hard.