Even with her father being incarcerated and losing her mother to illness, Ja’Nay Carter rose above the odds. After her mother’s passing, Carter and her siblings lived with their extended family, which included their godmother, grandmother, and aunt. With the support of her family, Carter used adversity as a tool to motivate and drive her to excel academically, which allowed her to rise as a top scholar in school. Over time, she maintained a 4.1 GPA all while taking care of her siblings. In December of 2017, Carter’s hard work payed off and was awarded a $10,000 Beat the Odds scholarship from the California Children’s Defense Fund to help further her college education.Carter has taken the advice of “never giving up” and applied that to setting future goals for herself.