Pubdate: Thu, 09 Aug 2012
Source: Daily Press (Newport News,VA)
Copyright: 2012 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/585
Author: Joe Lawlor

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER LEARNED FROM JUVENILE COURT

NEWPORT NEWS -- When Quwanisha Hines was arrested numerous times as a
juvenile for crimes related to abusing alcohol and drugs, she could
see her life going down the wrong path.

One day, she said, she started imagining her future, and it wasn't
pretty.

In addition to smoking marijuana, she was drinking a six-pack of beer
every day, or two large malt liquors --and more on the weekends.
Normally a "B" student, her grades slipped to "Ds" and "Fs."

"I saw my life flash before my eyes," said Hines, now
21.

Hines is a Newport News juvenile drug court graduate, and she still
keeps in touch by volunteering to speak at drug court graduations and
other functions. She also tutors students for Virginia Beach schools.

"I just did what I needed to do," she said. "I couldn't let myself
fail like that."

Drug court is an alternative to jail and prisons where attendees
receive substance abuse counseling, as well as life and job skills
training.

Hines now works two jobs and will be an Old Dominion University senior
this fall. She plans to become an attorney, and she's looking to earn
acceptance into a law school, perhaps at Arizona State University.

She credits juvenile drug court and her mother for getting her through
the rough times.

"I started to do good (in drug court), and get praise, so I didn't
want to disappoint everyone," Hines said. "If they saw some good in
me, there must be some good in me."

Hines, who was adopted, said the death of her father, Lee, when she
was 6 years old, probably helped feed her anger when she was a teenager.

"I was coming home every day, having really bad temper tantrums," she
said.

Her mom, Delores Hines, agrees.

"They were very close," said Delores Hines, whose husband died after
contracting pneumonia. "You never saw one without the other."

Lee and Delores Hines adopted Quwanisha shortly after she was born,
when they were older, in their 50s.

Quwanisha said when she was in her teens, she exploited the age
difference.

"I thought that because my mom was so much older, that she wouldn't
understand," she said.

After going through drug court, Hines graduated from Denbigh High
School and went to Ferrum College for a year before transferring to
Old Dominion.

She stopped abusing drugs and alcohol, and her grades turned back
around to "As" and "Bs."

"I'm very proud of her," Delores Hines said. "We didn't give up on
her."

Hines said she's now able to sometimes give some of her money from
working to her mother.

"I felt like I always had it in me to do well," Quwanisha said. "I
just needed a push."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt