“She saw something I never saw in myself. For the first time in my life, someone believed in me.”
In the fall of 2024, Ezekel Ferguson, 34, is poised to graduate from college with a triple degree in psychology, sociology and English. His next stop: a new job he’s recently landed in human resources, and he’s gung-ho to continue his education and pursue a graduate degree in that field.
“I never, ever imagined this path for myself,” says Ezekel, a Long Beach, CA resident who is juggling full-time academia at Compton College and job as a truck driver that pays the rent and undergrad tuition. “I didn’t think I was good enough.”
He supported himself working at McDonalds. But he says, “I woke up one day and knew I had to make more of myself.”
That’s when he tried to find employment at a higher level, only to be told time and time again that he needed a high school degree.
He remembers being “especially discouraged and worried about my future.”
That is where providence stepped in.
“I was sitting in a lobby of some building applying for a job, when I was told I couldn’t be a candidate because I didn’t have a high school diploma,” he says.
That’s where Five Keys Schools and Programs came into play. Five Keys “just happens” to operate one of its high schools in the same building where Ezekel was seeking to find employment — the Rancho Dominguez America’s Job Center. The San Francisco-based Five Keys is an accredited charter high school that is breaking down barriers for more than 30,000 at-risk and in-risk individuals across California.
“I was really upset and frustrated when this woman approached me, Miss Margot,” he says. “She turned out to be a teacher with Five Keys and told me about their high school diploma program. She was so kind and saw something I never saw in myself. For the first time in my life, someone believed in me.”
In 2014 Ezekel enrolled in the free Five Keys program that is missioned to help adults graduate from high school or receive their GED in order to strengthen career opportunities and future wages. Juggling full-time work as a trucker and his studies, it took Ezekel several years to earn his high school degree.
But in 2017, he walked across the stage at his Five Keys high school graduation to the cheers of a crowd, including “Miss Margot,” Margot deGrave, now principal for eight Five Keys high school sites in the Los Angeles area.
“He was such a cool kid,” Margot, who has taught and worked with hundreds of students remembers Ezekel as a standout. “He has such a positive attitude even though he had such a rough journey. Like so many of our students, he faced so many challenges and had to drop out and re-enroll eight or nine times. But he preserved and made it. Even though he struggled, he never gave up. It is such an honor to witness someone who has truly been so motivated to create a brighter future for himself.”
In 2019 Ezekel received his associate degree in business administration and behavioral sciences from Compton College. With a couple of English courses left, he is poised to transfer to Cal State Long Beach from Compton college and finish his bachelor’s degree next fall.
“Miss Margot and the Five Keys team were with me every step of the way,” says Ezekel. “They were always there and even still reach out to see how I am doing. My goal is to have a career in human resources and I would love to work for Five Keys to help others in the same way they helped me.”
Get to know Ezekel better in this video.