High school senior surprised with $10,000 scholarship in class

Overcoming adversity is never an easy feat, but one local high school senior is proof that with hard work and perseverance, you can beat the odds.

Alisa Hamilton, a senior at Bellaire High School in Texas, was awarded a $10,000 college scholarship and the best part about it -- it was all a big surprise!

The scholarship was part of HISD superintendent Terry Grier's Educator of the Year award. He couldn't have chosen a better student.

"There's not a word or expression to use for how happy I am for today. It's beyond my wildest dreams," Hamilton said.

Her journey has been rough, but she never let that get in the way of her success.

Grier explains, "Often, she has worked 2 and 3 jobs to try to help her family make ends meet and there's times where they've been homeless and the thing about her is she understands the reality of the world and she doesn't let that hold her back."

Alisa plans on attending East Texas Baptist University to study accounting -- and has some advice for other struggling students: "Don't expect the worst. If you do what you have to do to get where you want to be just keep fighting. You'll get there eventually."