Kaban ni D_BystandeR: NATUL-ID RA GIHAPON ANG DALAN NI LEE

LEE McCULLUM. Lee McCullum, 19, managed to be the first in his family to graduate high school by avoiding the gangs and violence that seemed inevitable for many boys growing up in his Roseland neighborhood.  No one would have predicted he'd flourish in school - including himself."I wasn't always determined to get good grades, to get on the honor roll. ... I was the laid-back cool guy. I did what I wanted to do," said McCullum, who acknowledged being in trouble a lot during his early high school years. But then he took note of what was happening around him and knew something had to change.  "There used to be 21 of us - three tables (in the cafeteria)," he said. "Now the table is down to just one. All those people? They're locked up for life... or they're 6 feet under." And so he decided to rewrite the script. He started showing up to school, participating in class and doing his homework. And the more he tasted success, the more he wanted.  "I've got no other choice butto keep going... because if I go back, I'll be in the same spot as everyone else. I carry my family on my shoulders.

I am their role model. This is real life... This is about having nothing to eat in the refrigerator and you have hunger pangs...and I'll be damned if I'm going to let my family suffer."  In the fall he'll head to Kishwaukee Community College near De Kalb, where he hopes to play basketball and eventually transfer to Northern Illinois University.  He will be the first in his family to "touch a college," he said.  "I wish I could  take my brother with me, but he's incarcerated right now."

He pondered why he didn't end up behind bars like his brother: "I try not to get myself into a bigger situation than I can get out of," he said.