The year that Bernabé Becerra was finishing middle school, she got terrifying news—her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Becerra found herself accompanying her mother, Eduarda Santillan, who is originally from Mexico, to numerous doctors’ appointments.
“I had to translate for my mother and try to explain these medical terms to her so she could understand what was happening,” Becerra said.
“That was very difficult for me,” she explained. “I had to try to process my mother’s condition and translate what the doctors were saying. I just remember crying a lot of nights and going with her to her chemotherapy sessions.”
Becerra describes that time in her life as a period of resilience and faith, despite the fear of losing her mother. It was also the time when she became intrigued by the medical profession. Last week, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Georgia State University, becoming the first woman in her family to graduate from college, and plans to go to dental school.
Read the full article by Horace C. Holloman III here.
Bernabé is a 2016 Maynard Jackson High School graduate. Congratulations, Achieve Atlanta Scholar!
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The impacts of the pandemic have led to fewer students across the nation completing an important step in the college application process—the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
As of November 30, 35% of APS seniors have completed the FAFSA, compared to 39% last year. However, nationally, 24% of seniors have completed the FAFSA and across Georgia, 22% of seniors have completed it. While we have some ground to make up, we are hopeful given our strong showing compared to national and state trends.
Achieve Atlanta and our partners have taken several steps to support students in the virtual space:
- (Almost) all advising of students is happening virtually via phone, text, and Zoom.
- We have shifted all in-person events to virtual—virtual FAFSA clinics, application sessions, etc.
- Achieve Atlanta, APS, and our nonprofit partners have increased our social media efforts in order to reach students and answer student questions.
- OneGoal has revised its curriculum to work with new student schedules. For OneGoal students who don’t have the OneGoal class on their schedule during their first term, staff have stepped in to provide curriculum and advising outside of school.
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The Achieve Atlanta Scholarship application will open on February 16, 2021. Please encourage Atlanta Public Schools seniors to apply for our need-based award designed to support APS students pursuing various postsecondary paths after high school. When combined with other possible sources of financial aid, the Achieve Atlanta Scholarship should greatly reduce the need for students and families to take out high-interest private loans to pay for school.
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Georgia Tech is one of our College Success Partners, and earlier this month notified in-state early applicants whether they’d been accepted to enroll in the fall of 2021. For the first time, the university reserved the early action period for Georgia high school students.
Administrators surprised students at 12 Georgia high schools by setting up virtual events that resembled information sessions so students wouldn’t suspect anything. At Atlanta Public Schools’ Maynard Jackson High School, all nine students who applied early to Georgia Tech got in.
Congratulations to these students! We are excited to see more college acceptances come in for our APS seniors.
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