I had been kicked out a couple of times, but I decided not to go back because I was embarrassed to admit that I had no place to live,” Morgan recalled. “The last time I was kicked out my vice principal turned to me and said that I would never have a university degree.”

That was enough to set Morgan on a path to beat the odds. She found shelter at the Young Women’s Christian Association and started cobbling together cash through telemarketing work for a university education.

Eventually, she saved enough to apply to Ryerson University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts for equity and diversity studies.

“I just wanted to get that undergrad degree that the principal said I couldn’t get,” she told the Star, noting that it took her almost 10 years to do so because she was “balancing life and a career.”

Meanwhile, Morgan nabbed gigs at the City of Toronto’s youth justice program, Toronto Community Housing and the Jane and Finch Community Centre. She also began teaching at Centennial College.