2020 couldn’t stop this trailblazing student

Daniela is blazing a trail on a path less traveled. Even if this beast of a year has almost knocked her off it. 

When COVID-19 hit, Daniela’s parents, both immigrants from Mexico, lost their jobs on a mushroom farm and struggled to find new work. If the stress of lost income wasn’t enough, Daniela was now forced to learn remotely in their already-cramped trailer park home, where she shares a bedroom with her two pre-teen brothers. 

To top it off, it’s no ordinary time for a college hopeful. The start of 12th grade is high-stakes for a student like Daniela, who has eyes toward an Early Decision application to Cornell University. So she persevered—often with her brothers playing video games nearby, or her parents watching television in the background.

 This fortitude is typical for Daniela. She is the only Hispanic female student at her high school taking the rigorous International Baccalaureate (IB) program. This summer, she completed the prestigious six-week Telluride workshop (which boasts a 3 percent acceptance rate) while on lockdown. She’s got a weighted GPA over 5.0; eight honors courses on her transcript; and an after-school club that she founded with one of her TeenSHARP friends to uplift her peers, called Minorities Go to College. 

“I can fit my own mold and change it if I want to,” she said—and she does. 

Earlier this year, for instance, Daniela was disappointed about the lack of student voice during a virtual meeting on racism, hosted by her school district. So she spoke up, in a two-page letter to her superintendent.

“There is a lot of pain and trauma students are experiencing at the hands of ignorant educators and peers,” she wrote in the letter. “It is controversial and it needs to be addressed boldly and directly. This week’s meeting did not give me the confidence that we are ready to do that as a district. And that is truly disappointing.”

Not only did her superintendent respond, but he invited her to have a seat at the table where she will be able to hold the district accountable for meaningful anti-racism work. She was also part of a small team of students that decided to organize their own town hall on racism. 

Daniela is fighting for her community while blazing her own path.

“Unfortunately, my immigrant parents are unable to provide much guidance when it comes to my educational experiences and academic choices,” she said. “They lack fluency in English and prior knowledge of the K-12 education system. Therefore, I’ve had to make most decisions about my education on my own; and some of those decisions were poorly informed.”

That’s how Daniela ended up enrolling herself in a new charter school that later shut down and left her with gaps in her academic preparation. Just a kid at the time, Daniela hadn’t thought about factors like the scope of courses in the curriculum. Then reality set in.  

She thought at the time that “College Prepratory” classes were the top option.  She had no knowledge about how Advanced Placement and IB courses might truly prepare her for the next level. 

But she wanted access to a rigorous academic experience. Then she learned about TeenSHARP. Since joining the TeenSHARP-Striver program in September 2018, Daniela has learned from professors at UPenn, Temple University, and the University of Delaware. She’s taken courses during TeenSHARP’s saturday sessions on diverse and authentic leadership, anti-racism, immigration, and United States history. And thanks to TeenSHARP, she said, she finally transferred schools to become a student in the prestigious IB program. 

Her rigorous course of study has met its match in her active extracurricular involvement. Daniela’s resume includes her participation in the DelawareCAN Youth Advocacy Council, GripTape, and Girls Who Code, among other activities. 

Daniela also takes everything she learns at TeenSHARP and shares it with her peers through the Minorities Go to College club she founded with Yazmine (another TeenSHARP student). 

At one of the club’s first meetings, Daniela quizzed the attendees. 

“Raise your hand if you will be the first person in your immediate family to go to college,” she said. 

All but two of the 10 students raised their hands. That’s when Daniela knew the club could make a real difference.

“In all, Black and Latino students are disproportionately affected by the barriers put in place,” Daniela said. “I want to lead the path and inform them.”