Jacksonville teen escapes abuse and homelessness to graduate high school
At just 18, Juliana Alcantara—who goes by Jay—has already faced more than most her age.
'I was with my mom at the time, and it was just like a bit of unstable housing due to substance abuse and such, and the safest option for me was to come and stay with my brother,' Jay said.
After fleeing abuse between the ages of 15 and 16, Jay moved to Jacksonville seeking safety. For a while, she found it living with her brother—until he returned to South Carolina, the very place she was trying to escape.
'And go back there I feel like in a sense...we're having to relive it even more,' she said.
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With nowhere else to turn, Jay found Daniel's Project Prepare at the age of 17—a local program that offers housing, life skills, and support to homeless and at-risk youth. She moved into the Independent Living Village last year, and everything began to change.
'Within like the short span. I'm now here and I have my own job and I can find my own transportation and I've been able to take up like a lot more responsibilities,' Jay said.
Now at age 18, Jay graduated just last week from Fletcher High School.
'Once I was getting towards the end of school, like wow, I'm actually gonna graduate, and then like a couple days later it was like actually happening,' she said.
She's now working part-time and looking ahead to college, with dreams of becoming a cosmetologist—or even a firefighter.
'And we are proud of her because she did it,' said Daniel Kids Program Director Carmella Prescott.
Prescott said she's seen hundreds of teens in similar or worse situations than Jay over the past six years.
'500 to 600 kids, most of them being successful, we're usually the 90% success rate because we're so intense,' she said.
Nationally, more than one in four people experiencing homelessness are under age 25. 19% are children under 18, and 8% are young adults between 18 and 24, according to the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.
Jay said to always trust the timing of things—because she believes you'll always end up at the destination where you want to be.
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30-06-2025
Beyoncé and Jay-Z become the main event as Paris crowns celebrity the world's hottest trend
PARIS -- If any force dominated the global fashion industry this season — eclipsing fabric, form and even the wildest silhouettes — it was the spectacle of celebrity. In a year marked by global anxiety and a hunger for fantasy, star power flooded Paris Fashion Week, turning runways into gladiator arenas where A-list icons, K-pop idols and digital megastars became the main event. Beyoncé and Jay-Z didn't just attend Louis Vuitton's blockbuster show — they became the show. As they swept into the Pompidou Center, cameras flashed and phones shot skyward. Before the first look even hit the runway, images of the couple ricocheted across the globe. K-pop idols like J-Hope and Jackson Wang livestreamed their arrival to millions, while crowds outside flooded social feeds with every glimpse of a star. As the industry's spring season wraps up Sunday, it's clear: Fashion's global audience is focused less on what's worn and more on who's wearing it. 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The Hill
29-06-2025
- The Hill
Beyoncé and Jay-Z become the main event as Paris crowns celebrity the world's hottest trend
PARIS (AP) — If any force dominated the global fashion industry this season — eclipsing fabric, form and even the wildest silhouettes — it was the spectacle of celebrity. In a year marked by global anxiety and a hunger for fantasy, star power flooded Paris Fashion Week, turning runways into gladiator arenas where A-list icons, K-pop idols and digital megastars became the main event. Beyoncé and Jay-Z didn't just attend Louis Vuitton's blockbuster show — they became the show. As they swept into the Pompidou Center, cameras flashed and phones shot skyward. Before the first look even hit the runway, images of the couple ricocheted across the globe. K-pop idols like J-Hope and Jackson Wang livestreamed their arrival to millions, while crowds outside flooded social feeds with every glimpse of a star. As the industry's spring season wraps up Sunday, it's clear: Fashion's global audience is focused less on what's worn and more on who's wearing it. 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At Hermès, even the discreet luxury of woven leather tees and wide trousers took on new meaning as athletes and music stars documented their attendance. Their posts quickly turn exclusive details into mass-market 'must-haves.' Shein and Temu, the global fast-fashion juggernauts, have weaponized the viral moment — turning celebrity sightings into shoppable trends worldwide, sometimes in a matter of hours. The result: What debuts on the Paris catwalk can show up in online shopping carts from Atlanta to Addis Ababa almost instantly. Beneath the celebrity glow, classic trends endure. Streetwear is still king, with oversized silhouettes, soft tailoring and activewear influences everywhere from Dior to Dolce & Gabbana. The Hermès 'cool city guy' and Dolce's pajama dressing — rumpled but rich — are direct answers to how men want to live and move now. But even these trends go mainstream through star power, not just design. The models might debut the look, but it's the front-row faces who make it stick. The celebrity ascendancy isn't just a front-row phenomenon — it's woven into the industry itself. When LVMH 's Bernard Arnault tapped Williams, a global pop icon, to lead Louis Vuitton menswear in 2023, it wasn't just a creative risk. It was a declaration that celebrity now runs the show. All this spectacle reflects a bigger shift. Fashion isn't just about what's in — it's about who's in the room, and who's watching. At Armani in Milan, at Saint Laurent in Paris, at every show, a galaxy of K-pop, Hollywood, and music stars now drive the narrative. For Gen Z and Alpha, the runway is no longer about aspiration — it's about participation, sharing, and living in the moment. The 'show' has become the product. In 2025, the hottest look in men's fashion isn't a garment — it's the spectacle. In the world's most-watched runway season, celebrity is the new couture, and every scroll puts you in the front row.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Yahoo
Write, submit an idea, learn: Don't wait or hold back, just do it
We often imagine that the people who achieve great things in life – whether in science, art, or any field of impact – do so only when everything is in place. When they feel ready. When they have the resources. When confidence arrives like a green light. But that's rarely the case. If you wait until you feel fully skilled, fully prepared, fully sure – you'll be waiting forever. Because readiness isn't a moment that arrives before action. It's something that is built through action. The truth is, nobody has it all figured out from the start. Not even the ones who changed the world. Take Marie Curie. When she first began her groundbreaking research on radioactivity, she worked in what could barely be called a laboratory – just a leaky, unheated shed behind a school in Paris. Her equipment was rudimentary, her working conditions far from ideal. But she started anyway. Slowly, painstakingly, she uncovered the elements polonium and radium, and changed the course of science forever. She didn't wait to be invited into the halls of recognition. She walked in with curiosity and courage, even when everything around her said, not yet. Or consider Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield, awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When Lauterbur first proposed his idea of spatial encoding of MRI signals – basically tracking movements of water molecules in our body under changing magnetic fields – he was told by several peers that the concept wouldn't work. His initial paper was even rejected by academic journals. But he didn't stop. He kept refining, experimenting, pushing forward. Peter Mansfield, working independently in the UK, added mathematical precision and practical applications to Lauterbur's vision. Together, through trial, failure, and persistence – not certainty – they helped create a medical breakthrough that has saved millions of lives. No one handed them a perfect roadmap. They began with what they had and allowed the process to show them the rest. The same is true of the Wright brothers. Neither Wilbur nor Orville had formal engineering training. They were bicycle mechanics with an obsession for flight. When they began designing their first aircraft, they had no guarantees. What they did have was a workshop, a windy field, and an unshakable willingness to try. And fail. And try again. On Dec 17, 1903, after years of trial and error, they achieved powered flight. What united these individuals wasn't certainty – it was movement. Because progress doesn't come from waiting for the perfect moment. It comes from doing what you can with what you have. From taking the first step, even when the second is unclear. That's where clarity comes from. That's where confidence begins – not before action, but after you begin. But too often, we let hesitation wear the mask of wisdom. We say we're preparing. Planning. Waiting for 'the right time.' But behind that delay often lives fear. Fear of getting it wrong. Fear of judgment. Fear of being seen before we feel complete. Yet what's worse than failing is never starting at all. Perfection is a seductive illusion. It convinces us that we need one more certificate, one more tool, one more dose of courage before we begin. But all perfection really does is delay progress. Because messy beginnings still move you forward. The first draft is always rough. The early stages of anything – be it a project, a paper, a plan – are supposed to feel shaky. That's not failure. That's momentum. Even in technology and research, we rarely launch with a finished product. Software goes live in beta. Hypotheses evolve mid-experiment. Scientific understanding is always, by nature, iterative. So why should we expect our personal or creative pursuits to be perfectly formed from the outset? Start before you feel ready. That's not recklessness. It's wisdom wrapped in action. Because here's the truth: you cannot think your way into certainty. But you can act your way into it. Each step you take reveals the next. Each small effort sharpens your direction. And over time, the fear that once held you back gets replaced by something far more valuable: belief in your ability to adapt. So if you've been holding back – waiting to feel smarter, braver, richer, more experienced – consider this your permission to begin. With shaky hands. With limited resources. With uncertainty still in the air. Start writing the thing. Submit the idea. Try the method. Take the class. Launch the version you have now. Imperfect action beats perfect procrastination every single time. Just stop waiting. The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
