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Palestine senior prepares to graduate despite losing both parents within year

Chanylla Gibson is a senior at Palestine High School, but unlike her classmates, she will not be able to celebrate her graduation alongside her parents.

TYLER, Texas — High school graduation is a time for most seniors to celebrate accomplishments and take their first steps to branch out from under their parents' wings.

For Palestine senior Chanylla Gibson, life without her parents came before she graduated.

"Last year, at almost the end of my junior year, my dad passed with cancer," Gibson said.

As if losing her father was not hard enough, for most of Gibson's senior year, her mother was in the hospital. On April 22, almost a month before graduation, Gibson's mother died from congestive heart failure.

Even after the loss of both her parents, she is not letting anything stand in the way of her dreams.

"I want my parents to be proud of me, even if they aren't here," Gibson explained.

Friday night, she will be graduating in the top 10% of her class. Not just with a high school diploma, but also an Associates of Arts degree from Trinity Valley Community College.

"I want to go far," Gibson said. "Do good things for my city."

In the fall, Gibson will be attending Louisiana State University majoring in biology.

"Once I pursue my degree in that, I would like to go to medical school," Gibson said. "I want to be a pediatrician."

To raise money for college this summer, she will be working at Lakeview Methodist Conference Center. 

If you would like to donate money for her college fund, click here.

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