A year ago, Destiny Johnson was working at Wal-Mart, unsure of her future and that of her young son, Jacob.

Last week, the 22-year-old stood proudly in front of an audience that included former First Lady Barbara Bush and spoke eloquently of her new job, her blossoming education and her newfound optimism.

Johnson, of Naples, was the guest speaker at the annual awards ceremony for Bush’s Maine Family Literacy Initiative, held June 2 at the J. Richard Community Center in Biddeford. Along with her son, Johnson has spent the last nine months in Windham’s Gateway Family Literacy Program, which combines adult education and Head Start programs to provide extra support to parents and their kids. Gateway was awarded a $25,000 grant last year from the Literacy Initiative, and Johnson’s story lent a human face to the group’s work.

During her sophomore year at Lake Region High School in Naples, with her controlling and alcoholic father dying in the hospital, Johnson started down the path of bad breaks and poor choices that would define the next few years of her life. She spent too much time partying and not enough studying. She started skipping school, and when her father died, she stopped going altogether.

Then, after two years of aimless living, she got pregnant.

“That was when I realized I needed to do more with my life, because I knew that I needed to support not only myself but my child as well,” Johnson said in her speech.

She started attending the Adult Learning Center in Bridgton, but soon landed a job at Wal-Mart. The two responsibilities conflicted often, and after a while, the job won out. Her education would have to go on hold yet again.

“I could only attend classes for a couple of months due to scheduling between work and school, so I stopped going to class,” said Johnson. “I had to keep my job to support my family.”

During her time at Wal-Mart, Johnson found it hard to stay confident, to believe that there was something more out there waiting for her. But after three years, she’d had enough.

“I was sick of everybody putting me down,” said Johnson. “I wanted to be something down the road.”

While many people reach a life-altering epiphany by first looking in the mirror, Johnson reached hers by looking deep into 3-year-old eyes.

“I wanted to become a good role model for my son Jacob,” she said. “I want him to grow up and know that I finished school, went to college and believed in myself, in order to be a great mother for him.”

By the time Johnson reached the doors of Windham Adult Education, her mind was made up.

“She just came in determined,” said Lisa Robertson, adult basic education coordinator. “You don’t find that with many people.”

By all accounts, Jacob is flourishing in the Gateway program. Now 4, his speech, writing and use of numbers have all improved over the last year. The time spent reading with his mother at school and at home have benefitted him, as has the interaction with others in the program. Because of the program, Johnson and her son have new books and a new computer. They also have people to talk to who understand the difficulty of raising a young child while going to school.

The time she’s spent with Jacob and the confidence she’s earned in the last nine months have given Johnson the tools she needs as a parent, said Pamela Chute, Jacob’s teacher in the Head Start program.

“She’s grown as a parent,” said Chute. When they first arrived at the program, Jacob had Johnson “tied around his little finger. Now she can make boundaries for him. She can make good choices,” Chute said.

The results translated to the workplace as well. When she first started working with Johnson on finding a job, Robertson said Johnson felt many of the positions were out of her reach and ability.

“She wasn’t sure she could do it,” said Robertson.

But the pair worked together, completing a resume and conducting mock interviews until Johnson felt comfortable. She now works in advertising for a local newspaper.

“I developed my self-confidence and have begun to excel at work,” Johnson said in her speech, with her new coworkers watching from the front rows.

The difference, said Cathy Paglio of Windham Adult Education, is that Johnson is now confident she can succeed, both as a parent and in the workplace. “Her confidence, her love for herself” have grown immensely, Paglio said. “She knows she’s able. She knows she is worthwhile.”

Johnson’s story is a lesson for adults who may be considering a return to school, said Paglio. Lingering doubts about one’s own ability to learn are a significant factor in keeping adults from pursuing education later in life.

“Some of them have had some really bad experiences with school,” she said.

The impact of Johnson’s success may hit close to home. Her mother, Kathleen Viney Johnson, said she hopes Johnson’s younger sister, Kelly, follows in her footsteps. Destiny, once frustrated at her dead-end life, has become a role model.

“She could be doing the same thing, going to school like Destiny,” the mother said.

Destiny Johnson, of Naples, shares a laugh with her 4-year-old son Jacob Wood. Destiny was the student speaker at the Maine Family Literacy Initiative awards ceremony of Monday. The even was held at the J. Richard Martin Community Center in Biddeford.