Leshia Champs of Houston, had a tough childhood. Her parents were addicted to drugs so she lived with her grandparents for a while before being placed in foster care. She eventually dropped out of high school. When she was 19, she became a mother and later had to get a job to support her son, David Jr. She later went to have four more children: Davien, 12; Khassidy, 11; Kaleb, 8; and E'mani, 5. David Jr. is now 14.
Then, almost 10 years ago, Champs said, one of the members of her church called her with a message and a reminder about a dream Champs had since she was 7 years old. Well, she was skeptical. At the time, she'd lost her job and had lost all of her family's belongings in a house fire. She was pregnant again and had just learned that her children's father had cancer. She said she felt hopeless.
Champs said she eventually hit rock bottom, even considering suicide, but decided to start studying for the GED because she had nothing to lose.
After she received her GED, she went a step further, applying to Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. She was accepted. Champs said getting through those three years of law school was a family affair.