ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Davion Only-Going was in and out of foster homes for 17 years until a dedicated caseworker named Connie Going adopted him, giving him the stability he needed to chase his dreams.
Only-Going got his diploma from MycroSchool Pinellas with 56 of his peers on Thursday at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg.
"I am in a good position right now and I can chase my dreams like I wanted to," Davion said. "I had the drive -- and he [God] knew I had the drive -- and he wanted me to be successful so he was like, '[I] am not going to put you through any more struggle.’"
Related: St. Petersburg orphan Davion Only pleads for a family
The first 17-years of Davion’s life were not easy. His mother gave birth to him while she was incarcerated. He was in 20 different foster homes and bounced from school to school. He was fed up and exhausted.
ABC Action News reported on Davion’s journey since 2013 when the teen took his life into his own hands, with faith in God, by making a desperate plea to the congregation at the St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, saying, "I'll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don't care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be."
Those words went viral. He made an appearance on "The View" and made national headlines.
More than 10,000 people responded to the emotional plea, including one family in Ohio who said they were willing to take Davion in.
When that did not work out, Connie said she got a call from her now son.
“He said will you adopt me now Ms. Connie and I said ‘yes’” Going said. “He is inspiration for the tens of thousands of children in the foster system.”
Davion received a full scholarship award to Pinellas Technical College where he plans to pursue a career in Culinary Arts.
"It is an amazing story. He's an amazing human being," Connie said. "I mean, he's graduating from high school. Now, he can take the next step. ... I'm excited to see where he's going to go and what he's going to do.”
Davion said he is focused on college, but will make time to talk to other foster kids and give them the advice he never had.
“Don’t think that there is no hope because there is someone out there, there’s people like me every day working to find kids families, don’t lose hope,” Davion said. And, don’t wait for the system to get you ready to age out cause see me I would’ve aged out cause I wasn’t ready I would’ve sat there. Make sure you have the life skills, make sure you go to your caseworker and say hey I want to learn how to open a bank account, find a job.”
