East Oakland native Corine Forward may have been trying to go viral when she posted her college graduation photos on Twitter, but she never expected the reception she got: 72,800 likes, 8,500 retweets and hundreds of encouraging comments.

Forward graduates from Georgetown University on Saturday. The 22-year-old first-generation college student is graduating magna cum laude with first honors and a 3.88 grade point average. Before Georgetown, Forward attended Eastside College Preparatory, a private boarding school in Palo Alto for students historically underrepresented in higher education, and Montera Middle School in Oakland.

Her viral Twitter post — with photos taken by Ayo Stephens — was intended to celebrate her immense accomplishments, of course, but there was more to it than that, she told SFGate by phone Friday, just a few hours before her family flew in from Oakland for the festivities.

"A lot of my followers are from Georgetown or Oakland, and I wanted them to know that even though I'm gone [from the Bay Area], I'm still rooting for us," she said. "I wanted them to know that you can leave Oakland, do great things, and come back."

She is coming back, though briefly for now: Forward will spend the summer working at Fentons Creamery in Oakland before moving to New York City, where she'll begin working toward a law degree at Columbia University.

Oakland, where she was born and raised, has everything to do with her chosen path, she said.

"I've known I wanted to go to law school since middle school," she said. Her family had some "run-ins with cops" and "experiences with incarceration" when she was growing up — her first exposure to the criminal justice system. She hopes to go into criminal defense.

"I want to be the lawyer that my folks should have had," she said.

Having a longterm goal motivated Forward through college, especially while adjusting to Georgetown. Coming from racially and economically diverse Oakland, transitioning to life at an East Coast private school was tricky.

In her first semesters, Forward remembered hearing peers talk about "their nannies, their yachts, where they had traveled."

"I didn't even have a passport!" she said.

Forward had considered other schools, including UCLA, but Georgetown won out when it came down to the funding. Her parents were supportive of the 3,000-mile move.

"It was about having them live through me, yes, but also me being able to do as much as I can before it's too late."

When I asked her to elaborate on what she meant by "before it's too late," Forward explained that some of her friends and peers have died by gun violence in Oakland. When she moved to Washington, D.C., the deaths started hitting closer and closer to home — first it was a classmate, then a friend.

She said the tragedies served as a "big push to live."

At the same time, it was in Oakland, with all its complexity, where Forward experienced what she calls her "transformative moments" — instances of personal growth spurred by inspiring friends, classmates and community members.

She hasn't forgotten about them. No matter how long she's away from home, Forward intends to find a way back, if not to Oakland, at least somewhere in California.

At the end of our interview, I asked Forward if she wanted to add anything. She did.

"Don't forget where you come from," she said, "and give back any way you can."

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at michelle.robertson@sfgate.com.

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