Manor College Student Proving Strength Wasn’t Meant to be Silent

Cheyann Velez (Philadelphia, Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts) is studying Business at Manor College.

Wearing a highlighter-pink Reebok shirt and stylish ripped jeans that match an ear-to-ear smile, Cheyann Velez stands in stark contrast to the grim, harsh journey she’s faced.

Her jubilant personality hides the exhaustion of nights sleeping in a storage unit. The clothes come from a trash bag that holds all her belongings. A radiant smile masks the pain she feels every time her mother enters the room, smelling of drugs.

“I know how to put a smile on my face,” Velez said. “That’s what I’ve done all these years.”

***

Turbulence has been a staple in Velez’s journey.

One of her earliest memories is the push of police coming through her door looking for her mother. Velez was taking care of her younger siblings at the time while her mother went to the store. As her mother returned, Velez stood in the doorway as police placed her under arrest on drug possession charges. Velez was four years old.

“I remember one of the (Child Protection) officials saying, ‘You have to be strong because you have your siblings to take care of,’” Velez said.

Velez’s father wasn’t around for much of her childhood, serving various sentences in prison on his own drug-related offenses.

That moment was the first of three times Child Protective Services took custody of Velez and her siblings. Each time, the three children were split up. Velez often ended up on her own.

As she retells her tumultuous childhood, Velez smiles. Not everything from those days is as dark as it seems.

She thinks about the time her mother would attempt to style Velez’s hair. She’d take her daughter’s thick strands of hair and style them. She’d weave thick strands of hair into two strands and cap each section with a plastic ball – a hairstyle known as twisties and ballies. It still makes Velez smile.

Shortly after being split up from her siblings the first time, Velez sat on the floor of the foster home with a doll in her hands. Instinctively, she began playing with the doll’s thick hair, twisting, twirling, and braiding until finally, the doll had messy strands resembling a braid. After a few attempts at styling the doll better, Velez went to the mirror and began repeating the process on her own hair.

“I tried it once on my own hair and went, ‘I got this,’” Velez laughs. “I was like eight years old and doing my own hair.”

***

Velez began her college journey at a university in the Philadelphia suburbs. She’d take four different SEPTA routes, spend four-and-a-half hours each way commuting, and dropped $35 a day on travel just to make it to class. She lasted a semester before the burden became too heavy.

She chose Manor College the following year because it was among the closest options – just two SEPTA bus routes with an hour or so of travel each way.

On campus, Velez hid her past. She played volleyball and basketball in different seasons for the Blue Jays, reigniting a childhood passion for sports, but few knew her struggles. That changed in March 2023.

Freddy Shegog gives a speech at Manor College on March 29, 2023.

Freddy Shegog, a motivational speaker from Philadelphia, spoke at a campus event that month. Shegog divulged the darkest times in his life: The mother who worked to barely keep food on the table. His battles with addiction and mental health. Dropping out of college six times. Sleeping in an alley and panhandling just to get a bite to eat.

Shegog revealed the positives, too: Staying sober. Graduating from a local Philadelphia university. Finding the supportive relationships that saved him.

As Velez, emotional in her own right, looked around the dark gym, she saw others crying, too. One of the faces her eyes came upon was Allison Mootz, Manor’s Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs. Velez, compelled by a gut instinct, introduced herself.

“We connected instantly and I quickly realized she is someone truly special,” Mootz said.”While she has faced more adversity than most people see in a lifetime, she refuses to let it dim her spirit and maintains unwavering positivity.”

Velez began seeing Mootz often. First, just a passing “Hi” in the hallway. Then, it was short chats in Mootz’s office. Day by day, Velez began opening up.

“Something just told me to go to her,” Velez said, fighting tears. “For so long, there was no one that I could rely on. Allison Mootz… if I could have her as a Mom, I promise you I would. She is everything right now.”

That spirit extends beyond Mootz, Velez said.

“You see that ‘You Belong Here’ in the library and you just feel it,” Velez said. “Michael Blose. Dr. (Cherie) Crosby-Weeks, the counselors, the coaches. Even Dr. (Jonathan) Peri, he checks up on me. This is the place where I found a community.”

***

Velez dishes a pass during a 2024 basketball game for Manor College.

Velez currently studies Business Administration at Manor College, intending to graduate next Spring. Her hope is to one day open her own hair salon and a shelter for the unhoused.

“People come to me to get their hair done, and I know it sounds stupid, but they feel like somebody after they get their hair done,” Velez said. “It makes them feel good. It makes me feel good to help them.”

Velez’s struggles aren’t over. She battles housing and food insecurity, often receiving help from Manor College’s Bird Feed Food Pantry and SAFE Fund.

A few months ago, her father was released from prison and asked if he could stay with her until he got into a shelter. Velez kicked him out soon after finding signs of drug usage in the house. She hasn’t talked to him since he missed a parole appointment and was sent back to prison.

While the ink hasn’t dried on Velez’s story, her resilience is being noticed. In October 2025, she received a scholarship for the Resilient Students Network’s “Where We Begin Student Storytelling Project.”

The project supports under-resourced students in Montgomery County with scholarships and provides a platform for students to share their stories of resilience, identity, and academic journeys. Velez applied for the program at the urging of Mootz.

“Her journey is a powerful example of resilience in the face of persistent struggles, and her story deserves to be heard and celebrated,” Mootz said. “I felt so strongly about her potential that her selection felt like a right rather than a surprise.”

What followed is a 1,000-word essay, “Insight Into My Life.” In its words, Velez weaves the details of her life with her own affirmations for the future.

“I saw what I saw, so I wouldn’t become the shadows of streets that make many succumb.”

“One day at a time, I’m reclaiming my name, with the heart of a lion and fire for a flame.”

“It’s okay to fail as long as you can rise, with courage in your spirit and fire in your eyes.”

In a life where she was told “stay strong” so others could thrive, Velez realizes now that strength isn’t found alone, but rather, it grows with the support of a network of chosen family that stays with her. While life continues to throw challenges her way, she meets them with passion, conviction, and the knowledge that this, too, shall pass.

“Stay strong, stay loved, let your story begin. You’ve made it through the worst – and now you’re gonna win.”