SAVANNAH - Edward Milton had no business graduating from college. <br>
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Abandoned by his father and forced out of his mother's home by poverty, Milton's prospects looked bleak. But Saturday he walked down the aisle with the 415 other gradates of Armstrong Atlantic State University -- a miracle of hope and hard work. <br>
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Milton ignored the odds, defied fate and found a way. <br>
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The product of a poor Savannah home, Milton's father abandoned him by the time he reached high school. The boy then moved out of his mother's house because there just wasn't enough to go around for all four children. <br>
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Milton ended up at Temple Baptist Church, where the music had always made him feel welcome. He found a home there, first with the Rev. Steven Corley, then with church pianist Janice Meaders. <br>
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When he graduated from high school, he decided to try college. <br>
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Financially it was difficult. There were times when Milton held down three jobs so he could scrape together tuition money. <br>
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His hard work paid off, though. He did well in his classes, was elected to the student government and interned with U.S. Senator Max Cleland's office last summer. <br>
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Before he left for the internship, he wrote his estranged father an emotional 10-page letter, vowing to succeed in spite of him. <br>
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Milton said that during his internship in Washington, he was inspired to go to law school with the goal of returning to Savannah to try to make a difference in his community. When he got back from his internship, he took the first step by getting a job as a filing clerk at a local law firm. <br>
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On Saturday, Milton became the first in his immediate family to graduate from college, earning a bachelor's degree in political science. <br>
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Milton's family was there to cheer him on, along with the church family who helped him along the way.
