NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- One of the challenges a set of twins in New Haven suffered as they journeyed through life was being homeless.

But that didn't stop them from graduating.

"I'm going to be like one of three in the family graduating," said Emanuel Johnson.

The high school senior said he has a love for music, while his twin brother, Esau Johnson, said he prefers performing the perfect routine.

But behind the music and the dancing, the brothers were living a tough life.

"I wasn't getting any new clothes," Emanuel Johnson said. "There wasn't much opportunity. I couldn't eat. Actually, there was a time when I was starving."

He said their older sister was taking care of them at a time when their mother was unable to do so. He said they turned to a New Haven shelter for help.

The Johnson brothers said they didn't always stay at the shelter. They said they called it home for all of seventh grade and for several months of their senior year of high school.

They said it was school that provided them with an escape.

"It was just better to get out of the shelter," Esau Johnson said. "It was like, I look forward to going to school because I didn't want to be home.'"

"There were times when I felt like giving up," Emanuel Johnson said. "You may not know, but I wanted to give up on school many times. I wanted to run away and leave the life struggles."

"I got into that deep depression," Esau Johnson said. "I would just sleep all the time, stop eating, fell into the wrong crowds."

But the brothers said they knew they couldn't just give up.

"I don't know, something just pushed me to go further," Emanuel Johnson said. "I know I can do this. If I give up, I would be like everybody else on the streets."

"Just being an adolescent is stressful enough," said their principal, Dr. Dolores Garcia-Blocker.

Add in all the other challenges, she said, and it was a lot to handle.

But she said the boys' schoolwork didn't suffer.

"These kids managed to complete every homework assignment, go to class, go to school," Garcia-Blocker said. "It just shows the resilience of these twins."

That resilience will net them high school diplomas at the end of the month from Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School.

College is another challenge the twins said they're facing -- not getting in, but paying for it.

Right now, the twins are back with their mother and are no longer homeless. They said they're ready to face the future as a family.

"I wanted to make my mother proud of me," Emanuel Johnson said.

"I feel so much stronger because I overcame that obstacle," Esau Johnson said.

Both said they couldn't have done it without the other, especially during the tough times when other teens were giving them a hard time about their situation.

They said they got through with a strong mentality. It's about not giving bullies the power to put you down, they said.