YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The youngest survivor of the shootings that occurred at a party near the YSU campus in February will reach a major milestone this weekend.

Shavai Owens was a star athlete and scholar who had dreams of going to college to play basketball.

But those dreams were shattered early in the morning of February 6th, when gunfire erupted at an off-campus fraternity party near YSU and a bullet struck Shavai in the head. In an exclusive interview with 21 News Reporter Jennifer Baligush, Shavai explained how she was injured.

"Through the back of my ear, into my ear, went into my, went into my head and ricocheted off my jawbone, across my face and stopped at my nose."

Twenty-five-year-old Jamael Johnson was killed and 16 others were injured in those shootings.

Owens did not wish to talk about what happened that night since the case is still pending in court.

For Shavai the past four months have been filled with surgeries and doctors visits. "I lost my hearing in my left side and my vision was going bad so I had to get a lot of reconstructive surgery to the left side of my face."

In this midst of it all, Shavai would meet with her teachers once a week at Boardman High School.

As of last year, she already had most of her credits to graduate. "So basically, I would just see a few of my teachers, mainly my English teacher because I still needed her class as a credit to graduate."

Sunday, she will walk across the stage and receive her diploma.

"I wanted to be able to walk across the stage because I stayed an extra year, just so I could. If I wouldn't have been able to do that, I would have been really upset. But I'm blessed to be able to do that."

Shavai will not be able to play basketball.  She says she will focus on academics, majoring in psychology and pre-law at YSU.

Looking back, Shavai wishes she had not been at the fraternity party and has this life lesson to share.

"You really have to consider your surroundings. Not everbody has the same mind set that you have. That you're just trying to have fun. People fight, things happen. So it really makes you think of who you have around you."