The Courage to Grow: Temple-bound Graduate Reflects on his Journey in Project HOME's College Access Program

Project HOME hosted the annual graduation and scholarship ceremony for our College Access Program on July 22, 2026, at Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs. The event celebrated students, including high school graduates, and college-bound scholarship recipients, for their achievements during their time in the program. Hamin Muhammad, recent graduate of Academy at Palumbo, was the featured student speaker for the event. Muhammad overcame personal obstacles in his early life to achieve academic success. He will attend Temple University in the fall.

In his speech from the graduation ceremony, he reflected on his journey thus far, and his goals for the future. Watch or read it below.

Fun fact—trees don’t grow…in a straight line, that is. They actually bend towards the sunlight. That’s why when you see a big, old, and healthy tree, it's a bit curved, or it leans to the left or right. Because no matter how much it bends, its goal never changes, it keeps reaching for the sunlight. That’s why I believe I’m a tree, because no matter where I started, where I’m going, or whatever obstacles I may face I always adapt to the environment around me. Accomplishing all my goals, having the courage to grow.

When I was younger, I watched a lot of my childhood friends and family members fall victim to their harsh environments, I watched them choose a path no one would ever aspire to go down. A tree that stopped reaching for the light because the darkness around it felt easier. So that’s what fueled me—not with sadness, anger, but with wisdom. To know that even in harsh environments, there’s always a glimmer of hope. It’s up to you to grasp it by the fingertips or ignore that light and fall victim of what you see around you. For me, even if I close my eyes,  I can still see the glimmer of sunlight speaking to me, telling me, “It will all be worth in the end, just keep pushing”

Project HOME and their Teen College Access program helped me keep pushing. Being in their program introduced me to a lot of new opportunities, electives, skills, and people. I remember when I first got there, Ms. Liz smiled at me and wanted to get to know me, the other students wanted to know my name and what I liked, then Ms. Ra just wanted to know what was on my plate, and where she could get herself some. Being at the college access program not only opened my eyes to new opportunities but it opened my eyes to help me find out who I truly am. 

Not everybody I was surrounded by was on the wrong path, some people were just on a different path than I was. And at times, for me, it was hard distinguishing which path was theirs, and which path was my own. Understanding who you are is a big part of your life and your overall purpose on why you fit where you're supposed to be. You might like robotics/stem, you might like photography and film, or you might like digital arts. Whatever you do in life, wherever you go, and what sparks you interest is your own path to choose. Not the people begging you to do something you don’t want to do, not the people telling you its my way or the highway, not the Project HOME staff, or anybody. It’s your job to branch out and make your own choices,

Growing up I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve seen people get bullied for being financially unstable, I’ve seen people get robbed for everything they held dear, I’ve seen people lose family because someone wanted to be the bad guy that day and take a life. And in return, I’ve seen those people get 85 years and more to life because they chose to fall victim to circumstances around them. 

But what else I saw was that sunlight—the type of sunlight that drives you to be the best version of yourself; the type of sunlight that keeps you up at night and tells you, "Don’t go to sleep, because you got dreams to chase out here;" the type of sunlight wakes you up in the morning telling you, "Don’t give up, the day just started, and you’re gonna be somebody one day." 

That’s why see myself as a tree, because a tree needs that type of sunlight. It doesn’t matter where I come from, where I’m going, who I was in the past because as long as I’m better in the future. I will forever evolve, I will always bend to the left and to the right to get to where I need to be. I will always have the courage to grow. 

The Project HOME College Access Program runs September 8, 2026, through June 9, 2027, Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, fill out the Project HOME Teen Program Interest Form and we will reach out to you!