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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The time of their lives, for high school seniors, graduation is the end of one chapter, and the beginning of another.

"I am not sure about my grade point average, I think it is a 4.64, but I am not certain yet," Athena Wallace said.

Eighteen-year-old Wallace is Wasson High School's 2012 valedictorian.

On Wednesday, she will graduate number one in her class.

"I have always loved school, and when I first started I was just so thrilled to be learning new things everyday, it was fun for me," Wallace said.

But that fun stems from a young life filled with hardships.

As a child, Wallace spent half her time with her mom, and the other half in foster homes.

"We were homeless frequently when I lived with her, she never maintained a job," she said.

When Wallace, her mother and siblings were homeless she said they would stay at local churches.

"My freshman year I went to live with my aunt after my mom attempted suicide, there was no where else for me and my brothers to go," Wallace said.

Along with bouncing back and forth from one home to another, Wallace was also constantly switching schools.

"When I hit middle school I decided I wanted to stay at the school I was at," she said. "I was an I.B. at North Middle School, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the whole world."

A member of the International Baccalaureate program, Wallace said when her mom moved again she refused to leave North, no matter how far away it was.

"I walked around five miles to school everyday because I wanted to stay there," she said.

Following her freshman year, Wallace switched from Palmer High to Wasson where she met a group of teachers, counselors and mentors who have since become her adopted family."

"She has asked a lot of me, and that has been very easy for me to give back to her," Wasson College and Career Counselor Trish Neary said.

"I know everytime I have a rough day, there are people here to support me," Wallace said.

All her hard work is now paying off, as Wallace is not only class valedictorian, but also was awarded the Boettcher Scholarship - a full ride to any Colorado College or University.

"I decided to go to Boulder because of the opportunities I will have there," she said.

As Wallace begins a new chapter of her life, she left students with this piece of advice.

"No matter what is going on in your life, there is always something you can do to change it, and if you keep going you will find it," Wallace said.

After graduating from the University of Colorado, Wallace is planning on going to Stanford for medical school.