DC General has made its share of headlines this year, none of them good. The notorious former hospital that is now a sprawling homeless shelter was the place where Khalil Tatum reportedly kidnapped Relisha Rudd, an 8-year-old shelter resident, and then murdered his wife. Tatum was found dead in a D.C. park, Rudd has yet to be found.
This week, though, the shelter did receive some good news. Eighteen-year-old Rashema Melson, a shelter resident with her mother and two sibling for the last two years, will head to Georgetown this fall on a full, four-year scholarship. The track athlete maintained a 4.0 average despite her bleak surroundings.
A senior at Anacostia High School, Melson told Fox 5 DC that she was motivated in spite of her situation which has included multiple moves for the past six years.
“It’s not hard for me because I want it. When you’re doing it because you have to it’s a struggle. But I want to be successful… that’s my goal in life.”
Melson heads to Georgetown to study biology as a pre-med student, and wants to eventually become a forensic pathologist. That career goal was inspired by her father’s murder when she was younger.
(Photo: Fox 5 DC)
