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(portrait shot)

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Johnita Ellerby, of Sanford, holds her membership certificate following her induction into the National Honor Society of Leadership and Success at UNC-Greensboro. She made a long journey from the darkness of abuse to the light of lifting others. A 2011 graduate of Central Carolina Community College, she is now an honor student at UNCG, earning a degree in Human Services. She plans to earn her doctorate and teach classes on preventing and dealing with child abuse and family violence, as well as lobby for tougher laws against child abusers.

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Johnita Ellerby (left), of Sanford, holds her membership certificate following her induction into the National Honor Society of Leadership and Success at UNC-Greensboro. With her is her mother, Odessa Ellerby Jackson. Ellerby made a long journey from the darkness of abuse to the light of lifting others. A 2011 graduate of Central Carolina Community College, she is now an honor student at UNCG, earning a degree in Human Services. She plans to earn her doctorate and teach classes on preventing and dealing with child abuse and family violence, as well as lobby for tougher laws against child abusers.