Meet Our Scholars

Although born in Los Angeles, Elias Najason grew up in different cities. In total, he lived in six different places and attended five different schools before the age of 18. This gave him a sense of isolation and made it difficult for him to connect with others. In addition, because of his LGBTQ identity, he struggled to make friends, always feeling like an outcast. The middle school and high school he attended, although big, only had two other LGBTQ students, who were also ostracized. His situation at home was no better, and he struggled to get along with his parents, who weren’t accepting. At the age of 18 he moved back to his hometown and started living his life as his true self. He took two years off school to figure things out, but in 2019 he decided to go to college. He was working full time, and could only afford to go to school part time. Now, he goes to school full time and works part time, and hopes to transfer to a four-year university in the upcoming year. Eventually, after taking some time off, he hopes to go to law school. Elias has made it his life goal to help disadvantaged individuals, and he hopes to be able to work for a nonprofit organization that helps homeless youth.