Kiani's Story
I remember being a little girl graduating from kindergarten thinking one day I would be a big girl graduating from high school. What I did not know then was that it would be a struggle to get here. Before coming to Pace, my high school time was filled with skipping and running away from school staff. By the time I got to Pace, I had failed every class, I was in 11th grade, and graduation was nowhere in my future from what I could imagine.
Transitioning to Pace was not smooth either because I was resistant to change. I wasn’t used to people caring, trying, or bothering me to get my stuff together. With the help of my team, I learned how to control my temper when things weren’t going my way and I learned to self-advocate. Soon, things began to look up for me. I was being given opportunities no one would have thought I would be, and my grades started to improve. I realized that graduation was possible. I even got honor roll and now I am a proud graduate of the Class of 2023!