To quote Phil Davis and John Harris, the visionaries behind Downey Unified School District’s MADE: A Career Initiative, “What we do matters.” We were reminded of this sentiment when Downey High Class of 2018 graduate Natalie Hernandez returned to the district in search of one special person she wanted to thank for helping her get accepted into the college of her dreams. One new project in partnership with DUSD is facilitating the College Admissions Academy.

The College Admissions Academy is a pilot program that started in summer 2018 designed to support around 50 incoming high school seniors from Downey and Warren High Schools who have at minimum a 3.0 grade point average, meet the University of California (UC) “A-G” course requirements, and whose parents did not graduate from college. It was at the precursor to the College Admissions Academy, back in Fall of 2017, that Natalie met Joyce Yamaguchi. Joyce had recently retired from teaching an array of courses at Glendale Unified School District, including English Literature AP and Journalism. She now uses her vast experience to connect with, engage, and listen to students in order to support them in the process of sharing their stories when writing their personal statements for college admissions applications. Joyce only met Natalie a few times; in that time, she encouraged Natalie to share her story. After Natalie was accepted into University of California, Berkeley, she tracked Joyce down to thank her for helping her write the most compelling and authentic essays she could. In this short video, you can hear Natalie tell the story in her own words. Congratulations, Natalie! We’re honored to have been a part of your journey, and we can’t wait to see what you do next.