{"id":503,"date":"2017-05-29T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/class-of-17\/?p=503"},"modified":"2017-05-29T20:15:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T20:15:32","slug":"phantasia-chavers-finds-peace-with-herself-and-her-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/class-of-17\/2017\/05\/29\/phantasia-chavers-finds-peace-with-herself-and-her-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Phantasia Chavers Finds Peace With Herself And Her Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

At this time four years ago, Phantasia Chavers of Cedar Hill was struggling with her sister\u2019s departure for college. Today, it\u2019s Phantasia who\u2019s getting ready to pack her bags.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Looking Ahead To College<\/h5>\n

At the beginning of her freshman year at Cedar Hill High School, Phantasia Chavers and her family held\u00a0a\u00a0going-away party for her older sister, Jaquaylla Williams.<\/p>\n

Phantasia was already\u00a0looking\u00a0ahead to her senior year and graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can see I did more. And I have opportunities,” Phantasia says. “Even though she had opportunities because she was really smart, I wanna have more. Colleges just want me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That dream came true. This fall, she\u2019ll head to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With scholarships and financial aid, she says she\u2019s practically going to college for free.<\/p>\n

\"Phantasia

Phantasia Chavers at her graduation from Cedar Hill High School at College Park Center in Arlington. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

“It was the last school I wanted to go to, but they offered me the most and they\u2019re reaching out, and they sent me letters with prayers, and they had their counselors actually hand-sign it, so it wasn\u2019t one of the stamps that they have in their offices,” she says. “That really meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phantasia is excited\u00a0about life after high school, but graduation last weekend was kind of bittersweet.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m gonna have to make new friends. I\u2019m gonna be away from everyone that I basically grew up with,” she said. “I\u2019m gonna be away from my momma and everybody else. … It\u2019s kinda hard, but I try not to think about it until it comes.”<\/p>\n

“I give myself a day to just cry and let everything out because it\u2019s not good to hold that stuff in.”
Phantasia Chavers on her depression<\/div>
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Dealing With Depression<\/h5>\n

Sitting in the cafeteria at Cedar Hill High, Phantasia’s best friend Sky Roberts was wistful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad,” she says. “It saddens me because my best friend\u2019s leaving. But I just know there are more doors that are going to open for both of us.”<\/p>\n

Phantasia plans to study biology. She wants to become a pediatrician.<\/p>\n

\"Phantasia

Phantasia Chavers poses with her diploma while walking the stage during her graduation. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s her way of giving back after a painful childhood.<\/p>\n

When she was 7, the man who helped raise Phantasia died. Later, a cousin was shot and killed.<\/p>\n

When she got to high school, she had to deal with bullying and bouts of depression.<\/p>\n

“You know, she just had a moment where she just cried and cried and cried and cried and cried,\u201d Phantasia’s mom, Jameka Chavers, said a few years ago, at the end of her freshman year.\u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do. I didn\u2019t know whether to take her to the hospital. She didn\u2019t want me to hold her or touch her or anything or baby her, and she loves to be babied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phantasia eventually got professional help. She says she\u2019s mentally stronger now. She believes in herself and she attributes her faith in God to getting through the tough times.<\/p>\n

“I still have those days where I do get down,” she says. “I give myself a day to just cry and let everything out because it\u2019s not good to hold that stuff in. I had to learn that because I do not like crying. I hate crying.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Surrounded

Surrounded by other graduates, Phantasia Chavers (center), adjusts her honor cords. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

“I\u2019m pretty satisfied with the person I have become and the person I will become, too.\u201d\u00a0
Phantasia Chavers<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n
‘Amazingly Bright And Intelligent’<\/h5>\n

On one of her final days at high school, Phantasia walked from room to room getting teachers and friends to sign her yearbook.<\/p>\n

John Tomlinson, a teacher and coach, remembers something he told her recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect her to do great things and to keep her standards very high,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Phantasia

Phantasia Chavers (center) poses for photos with her mother, Jameka Chavers, (right) and sister, Jaquaylla Williams. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Tomlinson has been kind of a father figure. He talked to her about college and scholarships \u2014 and about guys. Tomlinson has three daughters of his own and it\u2019s the same advice he\u2019s given them: Set boundaries and make sure guys respect you.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they gotta honor that, and when they honor that, that\u2019s when she\u2019ll know, that\u2019s the one worth spending time with,” he says. “It\u2019s about your boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phantasia nods and smiles and heads to Nolana Johnson\u2019s classroom. She teaches health science technology.<\/p>\n

“She is an amazingly bright and intelligent student who\u2019s too quiet,” Johnson says. “She is extremely intelligent and she seems to try to hide it sometimes. I\u2019m not really sure why.\u201d<\/p>\n

On paper, the proof is there. Phantasia ended the year with 4 As, 2 Bs, a 3.5 GPA — and a diploma.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve kind of found myself, because I was kind of lost on who I really wanted to be and my real identity,” she says. “I\u2019m pretty satisfied with the person I have become and the person I will become, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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    Phantasia Chavers at her graduation from Cedar Hill High School. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Phantasia shakes hands while walking the stage during her graduation. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Phantasia moves her tassel from right to left following her graduation from Cedar Hill High. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Phantasia hugs fellow graduates after the ceremony at College Park Center in Arlington on Friday, May 26, 2017. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Phantasia Chavers (right) poses for photos with fellow graduate and friend, Talia Hayes. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Phantasia Chavers (center) poses for photos with her mother, Jameka Chavers, and father, Vince Taylor. (Photo\/Lara Solt)<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n