After graduating Aurora, I attended the East Bay Center of Performing Art’s “Young Artist Diploma Program” (EBCPA), a four-year course of study designed to provide students in the arts with a critical set of skills and to enable students to discover their unique gifts and path. As a graduate of the program, I continue to serve as a youth ambassador for the East Bay Center and as one of the main vocal leads in the Center’s Resident Singing Ensemble, “Voices of Reason”. In addition, I am the Founder/Producer/Performer of “806” —a youth urban music collective.

At Saint Mary’s College High School, I was selected by the administration to participate as a student leader in a social advocacy program called the “Lasallian Youth Assembly.” The program focused on advocacy training and provided in-depth studies on social justice concerns and issues, while providing a forum for developing programs to support incarcerated youth.

The thing I enjoyed most about Aurora was its strong sense of community. The multi-grade classrooms provide a strong sense of community by allowing older kids the opportunity to mentor younger kids. This ability to act as a mentor helped me to develop leadership skills earlier than many of my peers.

Aurora teachers spend the time to get to know each student and make positive, lifelong connections. This made a big impact on me and taught me the importance of developing strong relationships. The teachers create an environment that accepts diverse perspectives and treats people with respect. They make learning fun and interesting through the use of plays, performances, and presentations. They even allowed students such as myself to share our musical gifts with the school community by performing during weekly school assemblies, something I really appreciated.

Transferring to Aurora in the second grade was challenging because I had to meet and be accepted by an entirely new group of people. Fortunately, the Aurora community fully embraced me, which made my family’s transition a smooth one. I have really good memories about my time at Aurora and it all comes back to the people. I have always felt comfortable at Aurora—it feels like home— and we will always stay in touch.

« Back to Main Profiles Page