Shaking the circumstances

With the school year now over, the graduating class of 2026 is now on to bigger and better things. They will push to become the next generation of movers and shakers. One of my goals when joining the Academic Success Program was to show that the Dallas Independent School District has some of the brightest young minds that the world has to offer. This graduating class has continued to help prove that.

This year, I had a student who was faced with many obstacles. From a single-parent home to unreliable transportation for school and everything in between, this student, statistically, had lower chances of finishing school and a higher chance of living in poverty according to a study by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.

Even with these major disadvantages, the student beat the odds and got a full-ride to Texas Christian University, paying a whopping $0/yr. This is not by luck, it is the result of hard work, focus, and the guidance to help identify key aspects for the college application process.

This student was a chemist and biologist trapped by circumstances. However, her mind was far from trapped. Since the student had unreliable transportation, they walked to and from school everyday, rain or shine. This allowed the student to be immersed in their surroundings of plant life and wildlife. Over time, the student began collecting plants, storing them, and researching the properties that the plants can be used for, putting all the findings in a journal. This research was then applied by making topical treatments and herbal teas for the student’s single-parent. This was an ongoing process and study for almost the entire duration of the student’s high school career.

Identifying this passion in the student was a major key in strengthening their college application, propelling them from a student who had just good grades to a student who demonstrates their passion for science by caring for others. This is the kind of student who lives in Dallas ISD, where the odds are against them but passion and care is what got them into a top 100 school in the country.

The hard work by ASP continues, breaking barriers in education for students, regardless of the situation, as education is what will hone the skills of these students to ultimately revolutionize our communities, both in Dallas and throughout the globe.