Lillian Lalia Andriana Clayton
My name is Lillian Lalia Andriana Clayton, and I was born December 15, 1988 in Durham, North Carolina. I am the daughter of Kenneth Wayne Clayton and Susan Elizabeth Williams. I have grown up much like any other child. At the age of 5, I attended Pearsontown Elementary School. I then went on to attend Lowes Grove Middle School; it was here that I realized that education was very important. I am a child of a single parent, and I understand how it feels to live pay check to pay check. I knew from a very young age that education was the key to getting out of this type of situation. I attended Lowes Grove Middle School and Southern High School. I was a participant in the City of Medicine Academy and became licensed as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) through the program. Upon graduation from Southern High School with a 3.5 GPA , I matriculated at North Carolina A & T State University.

Debra Ragland
I was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on February 9, 1989. My mother died of pneumocytis caused by the AIDS virus when I was two years old. I have never known my father. I was placed into foster care until my grandmother received custody of me. I remained in New Brunswick where I attended three different elementary schools. My grandmother raised me until she became sick with ovarian cancer and I had to move to Raleigh, North Carolina with my sister in 2002. In 2005 my grandmother passed away and custody was awarded to my sister. I attended Charles F. Carroll Middle School in Raleigh and graduated with honors from Garner Magnet High School in Garner, NC with a 3.6 GPA out of 4.0. In high school, I was a Kappa Alpha Psi Scholar, received Academic Achievement Awards for the years 2003 through 2007 and was listed in Who’Äôs Who among American Students. In the community, I participated in the Fight Hunger in Africa Campaign, Project Uplift, the Rex Hospital Blood Drive, the Battle of the Badges Tournament and the Junior Civitan (community service group).