A Florida student who lost his mother to leukemia and became homeless, has finished every homework assignment on time and finished with a 4.65 grade-point average to become valedictorian of his class.

Griffin Furlong always clung to one belief.

"Just never give up," Furlong, who has long had that motto written on the bill of his baseball cap, told TODAY.com. "Never let anyone tell you that you can't do something, because I've been told that all my life. People would tell me I wasn't smart enough, and now I'm here at the top of my class."

Furlong, 18, will give the speech to his fellow seniors on graduation day for First Coast High School in Jacksonville on June 4.

(WATCH the video below and READ the full story from TODAY  *WARNING: Don't play the video on the page, unless you want to hear about a mass killing)