Before winning the Silver Knight in foreign languages, Nadeige Laleau, nee Elusma, doubted she would live to see her 18th birthday.

Laleau, a Haitian immigrant who grew up an orphan, suffered from depression. She had trouble adjusting to life in Miami. She had problems with her heart.

But Laleau had a rare talent for foreign languages. A Spanish teacher at Miami Jackson Senior High took notice -- and took Laleau under her wing.

Laleau won the Silver Knight in 1986. The award gave her the confidence she needed to pursue her dream of a college education, she said.

''It gave me so much hope,'' Laleau recalled. ``It was the first time I felt like I was worth something.''

Laleau came to Miami in 1984, with only the clothes she was wearing.

Earlier in the day, a relative had dropped off the 17-year-old off at the airport alone and instructed her to board a flight out of Port-au-Prince. Laleau didn't know where she was headed, she recalled.

''I had no clue what was going on,'' she said. ``Literally, no clue.''

Laleau later learned that her father, whom she had never met, had sent for her to live with him in Miami.

But before Laleau arrived, her father took off for New York. Laleau was left to live in an Allapattah house with six relatives she didn't know.

Her father never returned to Miami.

The years Laleau spent as a young woman in Miami were the most difficult of her life, she said.

''I was pretty much responsible for myself,'' she recalled. ``I lived in a crowded house. I had no food or clothing.''

Laleau sought refuge away from the house. But life wasn't much easier at Jackson Senior, where Laleau had been placed in the 11th grade. She spoke no English, and struggled with her classes.

''I didn't understand squat,'' Laleau said. ``I remember sitting in this American history class. I didn't understand a thing the man was talking about.''

Laleau enrolled in evening classes to learn English. Still, she said, she was miserable and kept to herself. At one point, she spent three days in Jackson Memorial Hospital for depression.

''I never pictured myself going to college,'' she said. ``The truth of the matter is that I didn't think I would make it past 18. I was having a lot of problems with my heart. I was always depressed.''

Then she met Alba Allison.

Allison, a Spanish teacher at Jackson, recognized Laleau's gift for foreign languages. She helped Laleau learn English, and encouraged her to study Spanish, too.

''It was her hunger to learn that made her so special,'' Allison recalled. ``She was learning English and Spanish at the same time. But she was never satisfied. She always wanted to learn more.''

Allison became Laleau's mentor and friend. The bond between the two women helped Laleau blossom.

''Mrs. Allison was there when I was at my lowest,'' Laleau recalled. ``She gave me clothing when I needed it. She gave me food when I had nothing to eat.''

Under Allison's guidance, Laleau excelled. In addition to her native Haitian Creole, she picked up English, Spanish and French. She was inducted into the Spanish Honors Society during her senior year.

Laleau also joined the school art club and started doing community service. At first, she volunteered at Jackson Memorial ''because it was the hospital that had helped me,'' she said.

When Laleau was a senior, Allison nominated her for the Silver Knight in foreign language.

Winning the award was a complete surprise, Laleau said.

''It was unbelievable,'' she said. ``To think, I had been selected as part of an elite group of children.''

Said Allison: ``Winning the Silver Knight was the greatest victory in her life. It was the thing that turned her life around. After that, she realized that she could do whatever she wanted with her life.''

Later that year, Laleau won a two-year scholarship from the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition. She went on to earn an associate's degree in early childhood development from Miami-Dade College and a bachelor's degree in social work from Florida International University. She also completed a master's degree at the University of Miami.

More successes followed.

Laleau became a U.S. citizen in 1989. She married her high-school sweetheart, William Laleau. The couple has two children: Geoffrey, 19, and Nadleen, 6.

Laleau now works as a monitoring specialist for Head Start, a federal program that provides assistance to low-income children. She loves her job, she said, because it affords her the opportunity to help children.

Community service has remained an important part of Laleau's life. She and her family volunteer at their church and help the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes. Recently, they helped clean up Haulover Beach.

Laleau said she is teaching her children to be thankful for every day.

''I feel truly blessed,'' she said. ``I couldn't ask for anything more.''