Amy Lashley

Numerous setbacks have not stopped Amphitheater High School senior Amy Lashley from forging ahead in life.

"I've been through a lot," the 18-year-old said. She has lived on her own since her junior year.

"It definitely made me grow up a lot faster," said Lashley, who moved out because she wanted a more stable environment than she had known as a child.

Shortly after moving out, Lashley fell and developed a blood clot in her brain. It eventually dissolved on its own, but not before months of pain forced her to quit the varsity cheerleading team, she said.

About the same time, a drunken driver crashed into her car. She said she drove her wrecked car for nearly a year before using her savings to buy another one.

She is enrolled in Youth on Their Own, a nonprofit program that helps teens who are unable to live at home with their parents.

The program provides a $125 monthly stipend, but that doesn't nearly cover paying for her car, food, clothes, rent and other expenses. She works almost full time to make ends meet.

At the same time, Lashley has made great academic progress. She read at a fourth-grade level and took special education classes her freshman year, and today reads at her grade level and is on the honor roll in mainstream classes.

She's currently the vice president of Health Occupations Students of America at her school and would like to become a physician who works with children diagnosed with cancer. She plans to attend Pima Community College in the fall and later transfer to the University of Arizona.

Lashley's determination has earned her the admiration of Noni Garcia, a case manager at Youth on Their Own.

"She does all these things, and I'm amazed at how she keeps it together," Garcia said. "She keeps plugging away despite what's going on."

Stories by Yui Umehara-Garewal

Photo by Greg Bryan