MIDDLEBURG – Ryan Riley was a lost soul. His path seemed predetermined for prison or the graveyard.

But something his mother said resonated with him. He was immune to the threats, violence and indifference of the streets on the Westside of Jacksonville, but his mother’s voice found a way to get through the bravado.

“I committed myself to Christ,” Ryan said.

After being kicked out of Westside High, Ryan moved to Middleburg, where, according to Principal Martin Aftuck, he became a model student. Not only was he saved—literally—from the streets, but he will graduate on May 24 and enter the U.S. Navy on June 4.

His smile and happiness are infectious at Middleburg High. Students and teachers high-five him in the hallways. Everyone likes him. And he’s always clutching his Bible.

But it wasn’t always like that.

“When I was growing up, I wasn’t a good kid,” he said. “I was poor. I was in the wrong groups. I did bad stuff. I got kicked out of Westside (High) for bad grades. I had AP classes, but the way I acted wasn’t acceptable. I wouldn’t listen to my parents, my siblings or my grandparents.

“I lived in West Palm Beach when I was little, then we moved to 103^rd Street. I’ve been in the ‘hood. It was rough. I was out in the streets trying to do things to people. I’ve had some cousins, some friends who got killed.”

His mother died shortly after Ryan accepted Christ, but she saw her son’s transformation from being an unruly outcast to a model student with a bright future.

“I wanted to make her proud,” he said. “I know who I am. I got a name. She knew I was on the right path. She knows I turned my life around. She knows I’m going to prosper.”

Once at Middleburg, Ryan quickly noticed a big change. Unlike other places he lived, the community wasn’t divided into Blacks and whites. “Here, you’re a Bronco,” he said.

“I do love this school a lot. I’ve grown a love for it. It was like, this was a new type of thing for me. People are calmer here, more curious, and more interested in what you’ve gone through and what you’re doing. So it was it was new to me.”

What started as a gesture to make his mother happy was the best choice of his young life.

“If I would have kept going down the same path, I would have been dead or in jail,” he said. “Those are never good options. But you can turn your life around. I did.”

With divine help, only a mother can offer.