“It was so overwhelming at times,” said Anthony, whose family has been in and out of shelters after being forced out of their East Flatbush apartment when they couldn’t afford a rent increase. “I was ashamed at first but then I realized that this is just my situation and this is who I am right now. If I’m ashamed of that then I’m ashamed of myself, my mom and my whole family. I just learned how to accept it.” Anthony was able to post a 90 average in her classes while playing both basketball and softball. She also earned a slew of scholarships and will attend SUNY Oneonta in the fall. “It feels like a really long journey coming to an end,” said Anthony. “I’ve been waiting and preparing for this since junior high school and it feels like I’ve finally accomplished my goal.” Don Royce Creppin Not all of the fabulous five have stories with happy endings. Midwood teen Don Royce Creppin was brushing his hair at home in Port‐Au‐Prince seconds before Haiti’s 2010 powerful earthquake. Creppin felt the tremors, raced out of his house and watched buildings crumble and loved ones killed. “There was all this misery in Haiti. There were all these dead bodies and you had to smell them before they were picked up,” said Creppin, 19. “It made me realize...with the time I had left I have so much to achieve.” Creppin came to Midwood with his mother in 2006 and attended the High School for Sports Management in Gravesend where he kept a steady A average and finished fifth in his class. He was accepted to the College of Staten Island, but his mother’s immigration lawyer failed to file Creppin’s citizenship paperwork, and now the teen is here illegally and unable to apply for financial aid. “I thought I would go to college after all that hard work,” said Creppin. "I want to achieve, I want to be great and then I want to give back to the community.”
NICHOLAS FEVELO/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Don Royce Crippin survived the earthquake in Haiti.
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