Luz is an all-around incredible young woman: funny, intelligent, reflective, and resilient. She is a leader who finds a way to lift up the people around her and push others to be their best selves.  Luz is an aspiration-driven young woman and she holds a clear sense that she will reach her dreams.

As a child, Luz immigrated to the United States from Mexico with her parents, and will be the first in her family to graduate from college.  She heads to college with a wealth of community service experience: she has been an active leader in the Student Leadership Group at EA, where she helped plan and execute student led assemblies on topics such as Black Lives Matter and Cyber Bullying, and also served on a the Student Justice Panel where she helped to mediate and solve conflicts between EA students and staff. 

Luz also possesses a genuine kindness that spills out to anyone around her. She is also an incredible advocate and source of support for the people close to her. On countless occasions, she has taken it upon herself to sit with her friends after school, well into the evening, helping them study for this quiz or complete that project, long after her own work is done.

Simply put, Luz is intellectually, emotionally, and socially brilliant. She represents the full picture of what it means to be an educated young person in our world. Since the first day of 9th grade, we have witnessed her continual growth as a student and a human being; growth that has come as a result of very clear dedication to her education and her community.

College Destination, Fall 2015: University of California, Merced

This remarkable young woman comes from a loving and dedicated family.  While her parents, who both immigrated to the United States from Mexico as young adults, never went to secondary school, they have stressed to their children the importance of education and community involvement.  Based on all the activities Yasmin engages in on a daily basis, it is clear that she has taken her parents' lessons and example to heart.  She never lets an opportunity pass her by and is certainly one of the most active students in her senior class.  She is a devoted athlete who plays and referees soccer, participates in mixed martial arts, and runs independently to maintain fitness.  She is also a leader among students at Impact Academy through MEChA.  On her own, she has secured various volunteer positions, including assisting in the school office and serving as a student ambassador to represent Impact on numerous occasions. She is a community-minded young woman who intends to give back, and we know she will do so powerfully, with integrity and compassion.  

This spring she presented the most outstanding CSP defense her advisor, Whitney Omosefe, has ever seen; according to Whitney, Yasmin's presentation raised the bar of what we know high school students can do.