My Underdog Story

Editor’s Note

This personal testimony includes references to childhood trauma, abuse, addiction, overdose, homelessness, and recovery. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you love is struggling, please reach out to a trusted professional, counselor, pastor, or local support resource.

My name is Willie Parker.

And for a long time, I believed my life was already over before it even had a chance to begin.

I was a liar.

I was a thief.

I stole from people, stole from cars, robbed drug dealers and businesses, and eventually I became so lost in addiction that in September of 2015, I overdosed and died.

Doctors placed me into a two-day coma.

They didn’t know if I would ever breathe on my own again.

The last thing I remember before everything went black was hearing someone screaming in the background:

“Call 911! Call 911!”

Then everything disappeared.

No sound.

No time.

Just darkness.

And then suddenly, I saw a bright light.

My eyes were closed, but the light was so bright it felt like it was shining straight through my eyelids. Then, out of nowhere, I felt what seemed like fire spreading through my body.

I started screaming:

“I’m on fire! Please, somebody put me out!”

And I remember hearing a voice saying:

“I’m trying! Relax!”

Then everything went black again.

I woke up that Monday in the ICU to my mother and stepdad praying beside my hospital bed.

That’s when I learned I had been pronounced dead at the scene.

But honestly, my story was broken long before drugs ever entered my life.

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My parents divorced when I was young. After my mom won full custody in Colorado, my dad kidnapped my sister and me and fled to Mississippi.

From that point on, my life became unstable.

We moved constantly from place to place, school to school. Every school taught differently, and eventually I fell so far behind that I stopped believing in myself academically.

By fourth grade, I had already mentally quit school.

I would write my name on assignments and turn them in blank because I truly believed I wasn’t smart enough anyway.

I was bullied growing up because I didn’t have the best clothes or the best shoes.

I was placed in special education classes and an alternative school for years because I refused to participate anymore. I failed seventh grade three times.

At home, things were even worse.

My father abused me mentally and physically for years. He beat me with belts, sticks, wires, and his hands. Sometimes I couldn’t even sit down at school the next day because of the pain.

Teachers thought I was being disrespectful when I refused to sit in my chair, but I stayed silent.

I thought silence was survival.

My father told me I would never amount to anything. He told me I was a mistake.

One night at the dinner table, he hit me so hard he knocked me out of my chair. To this day, my lip still carries the scar.

He would even take the Christmas gifts my mother sent for my sister and me, rewrap them, and pretend they were from him.

As I got older, the pain turned into anger, and the anger turned into self-destruction.

I dropped out of school after I was jumped and had two teeth knocked out and a broken collarbone, all because I stood up for someone else who was getting bullied.

I became addicted to drugs.

I was homeless for two years because nobody trusted me anymore, and honestly, I didn’t trust myself either.

I was robbed while homeless. I lost friends. I lost purpose. I lost myself.

Then one day, years later, I found out my father had died.

And something inside me changed.

For the first time in my life, I realized:

He no longer controlled me.

His words no longer had power over my future unless I allowed them to.

That moment changed everything.

I had two choices:

Continue living like a victim or fight for a different life.

Willie Parker shares his testimony of receiving his GED.

So I made a decision.

I joined a GED program.

And in four months, I passed.

Today, I’m college-bound.

Not because life suddenly became easy.

Not because I’m smarter than anyone else.

But because I finally stopped believing the lies spoken over me my entire life.

And that’s why I’m telling my story today.

Because there are people out there right now who feel broken.

People struggling with addiction.

People who were abused.

People who were bullied.

People who feel behind in life.

People who feel hopeless.

I understand that pain.

But I also understand this:

Your past does not have to dictate your future.

You are not your addiction.

You are not your trauma.

You are not your failures.

And you are not the names people called you.

There is hope.

You matter.

And if somebody like me, a dropout, addict, thief, homeless man, and someone who overdosed and was pronounced dead, can stand here today college-bound with a purpose, then your story is not over either.

Sometimes your comeback starts with one decision.

One decision to believe that your life can still become something greater.

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Willie Parker was born on February 18, 1992, in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and now resides in Morrilton, Arkansas. After overcoming difficult times, he is now attending the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton. Willie is passionate about family, second chances, and helping others create a better future. Willie is the Founder of Have Faith Prep.