Rayonna Hall is the first graduate of Gateway to College at Durham Technical Community College. She transplanted to North Carolina from the inner city of Jamaica Queens, New York. She became a mother at the age of 13 and quickly became overwhelmed trying to juggle school and home life. As a result, she dropped out of high school during her junior year and worked for a period of time. She says that her success as a Gateway graduate was due in part to the encouragement she received from Gateway’s staff. As a graduate of the Gateway to College program, she is continuing her education at Durham Technical Community College and working toward a degree in applied science of clinical trails research.

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