Adairsville High School senior thrives despite losing parents
HS senior facing adversity has amazing year
An 18-year-old in Bartow County lost both his parents unexpectedly, still he's proving that all things are possible when you focus on what's going right in your life. Kymoni Pullum shared the impressive year he's been having and why he chooses to remain positive.
BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. - When he was in middle school, Kymoni Pullum’s father died. Then, in his junior year of high school, his mother died of COVID. He transferred to Adairsville high. He was a new face, in a new school for his senior year, when everyone already had their core friends. Instead of shying away, he has shined.
They say "what you focus on, grows."
"I like making jokes all the time. It keeps me positive," Kymoni said.
His "can-do" spirit soars when he focuses on what he can look forward to.
"My mom was always telling me I have to get good grades, I have to finish high school, I have to go to college," he said. "I was like, ‘OK, I will.’"
He held onto those high academic standards despite his whole world crumbling from beneath him.
One day, while quarantining with COVID, he woke up to find his mother gasping. Not even an hour later, she was gone.
"I stayed in the room. I didn’t talk to anyone for days. I didn’t eat," he remembered.
Kymoni left the school he had known to live with his aunt and start his senior year as "the new guy."
"I told my stepdad, ‘I love you, but I’ve got to do what’s best for me,’" he said.
Head Adairsville counselor Kellen Martinak says Kymoni embraced the changes.
"He became a tiger from day one," she said. "This could’ve been a defining moment in his life, and it was, but used it more for good."
Several faculty and staff members knew his mom and made sure to help him process his loss.
He had a stellar year as an honor student, a varsity football defensive lineman, and was on the homecoming court--all while finding his footing as "the new guy."
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"That was pretty amazing for him, just coming to this school," literature teacher, Amber Corbin, said.
Soon, Kymoni will focus on his business finance studies at Jacksonville State University, after he wrap things up, at the very high school his mom graduated from.
"She’d be so proud of him. She wanted him to grad high school, to make honors, and go to college," his aunt, Phyllis Pullum said.