NATCHEZ — When Destiny Addae was born, doctors told her mother that Destiny had a 99.9-percent chance of being deaf.

It was the second piece of bad news mother Elnora Thornburg had heard.

She was also told earier in her pregnancy that Addae may have Down Syndrome.

But Addae was born without Down Syndrome and without a hearing problem.

For more than half her life, Addae has been making sure others can hear her voice.

Addae, now 10, attends McLaurin Elementary School.

“Destiny’s a model student,” Principal Margie Clark said. “She comes to school prepared, ready to learn, eager to learn.”

Addae’s English teacher, Latezeon Humphrey-Balentine also knows her for her confidence and optimism.

“The glass is always at least half full to her,” Humphrey-Balentine said.

Addae has achieved honor roll in the past, and outside of school has won the Pre-Teen Mississippi Outstanding 10-year-old award.

When she gets older, Addae said she wants to be a heart doctor, a teacher and president.

But right now she’s already balancing more than one role as a student and a speaker. Her first time speaking was at Antioch Baptist Church’s homecoming.

She was only around 5 at the time.

“I actually feel really nice about doing it because it helps them understand a lot about the things I’m speaking about,” Addae said.

Addae usually speaks about loving others and the golden rule.

“I like to encourage people to do the right thing,” Addae said.

Her other big topic is God’s love. In one of her speeches, Addae charged people to give America back to God, quoting the book of Malachi, “Return unto me and I will return unto you.”

Since her speech at Antioch, Addae has spoken at various locations, including the African American Black History Museum in Monroe, La., and at events such as celebrations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.

Thornburg recalls when Addae was a guest speaker for New Beginning Baptist Church. Addae was only 7, but Thornburg said she made people cry when she spoke.

“They said she really spoke from the heart,” Thornburg said.

When it comes to Addae’s speeches, she writes them herself whenever inspiration strikes her. Thornburg said she and Addae’s grandmother look it over afterward.

“We’re just excited to see what she says,” Thornburg said.

Addae rarely receives money for her speeches, but that doesn’t matter to her.

“I don’t have to get paid for it, because I just want to do it from my heart because God put it on my heart to do it,” Addae said.