She is known as the "smart girl". . . the girl who landed at Jefferson High School only 18 months ago. What her friends did not know is that she has been homeless for years.

But not anymore. Her plane left for Harvard the day after graduation. As long as she can remember, Khadijah Williams has floated from shelters to motels to armories in Los Angeles with her mother. She has lived out of garbage bags among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. Every morning, she upheld her dignity, making sure she didn't smell or look disheveled. And she held fast to the fact that her teachers marked her as gifted, when she was 9-years-old after scoring in the 99th percentile on a state exam.

(Read the inspiring story and see photos at the LA Times)