I've always wanted
to go to college. I don't want to go because I want
to be the first one in my family to go. That's not the reason for me going. I want to go because I want to go. Going to college is important to me because, like, none of my family
members have been to college, and I'm trying to be the first one
to be more educated. I'll be the first one to go to college
in my family, so, you know, it's gonna
make me feel good, like I'm number one. I want to go to college
to become something in life to prove to my parents
and to everybody that I can do it. I get up at 5:30 every morning. 5:30. Press that snooze button,
so, like, 5:40, and get up and start my day, walk out the house at 6:20. I love you, too, Mom.
I'll see you later. I live in Inglewood with my mom, and I go to LA Jordan High School
in Watts, California. So I take three buses and two trains
to get to school every day. Dontay was a talented
two-sport athlete who commuted an hour and a half
to compete on Jordan High School's highly-ranked football
and track teams. But for him, the dream of going
to college was relatively new. The first day of 10th grade I got locked up
for possession of a firearm. I did five months in camp. It really got to me. I really seen like, you know, if I don't turn my life around,
I could be in here for years. I did so good in camp, they let me out
10 days before Christmas. From there,
I just turned my life around. I started going to church, you know, going to
school. Next thing you know,
I'm back on track, doing better than ever. Well, I've been going to Jordan since I was in the middle
of the 10th grade. It's in a, like,
a not-so-good neighborhood. But I stay to myself. I have my headphones on,
go to school to learn. -Bye, Mom.
-Bye, I love you. Love you, too. 200 miles north of Dontay, Jess lived in the rural mountain town of Lake
Isabella. Have a seat guys.
Find a seat. Okay. So, let's start. I am happy to join with you today
in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration
for freedom in the history of our nation. A lot of people don't appreciate
our school because it's so small. We don't have a lot of new things, but, like, we have our farm,
and we have a good sports program. They don't think
that there's a lot to be involved in, but there really is if you, you know, just want to
do it. I'm vice president
for the junior class, and I'm running again
for senior class. See you, Miss Mahoney. Ethan and I have been together for... It'll be a year and one month
this month, actually. And I'm really happy with him. Like, I've never been
with anybody this long. We're pretty much always together, and, like, we don't get
sick of each other. I do stats for varsity football
and varsity softball. I like it a lot. It makes me follow
the game, and it's fun. And since I'm not coordinated,
I'd say, and I can't really play sports, I just like to be a part of it somehow, you know. Part of the team. Working and being involved
in student council and getting the grades she does, that's really hard to do. But she handles it really good,
and her grades show it. 45 minutes down the canyon road from Lake
Isabella was the city of Bakersfield. Considered the oil capital
of California, it was also the home of Cecilia. I was born here in Bakersfield,
and I've been here all my life. I've never moved. My dad came first when he was 17, and my mom, she came here
when she was 23. She works in the fields. Her hours are, like, 5:00
in the morning to, like, 3:00-4:00. There's nine people
living in my house: My mom, my three brothers, my sister-in-law,
and three nephews. So it's always crowded. We're always like,
"Excuse me, excuse me." By Cecila's junior year, she was taking nearly
all AP classes, plus a class dedicated to helping students get
into college. All right, I need to sit down
with you guys and go through this week
a little bit. We have some details
for your projects that we need to get squared away. My freshman year I started AVID, and they started talking
about how college is really important. It's kinda like DARE,
like, don't do drugs, but, like, AVID --
go to college. We want everything to be
in our digital portfolios. All I'm gonna do for you to turn it in
is you say, "Hey, I'm done." I'll slide it over to my computer. I met Cecilia when she was
an 8th grader when I recruited. She's just an awesome kid,
you know. And she wants to go to college
and wants to be something, so she works really hard. And she'll stress herself out sometimes, too, but she works hard. She's a good kid. Just south of Los Angeles, nestled between Compton
and Bellflower, was the city of Paramount, home to Keresoma, or, as his friends called him, Soma. I've attended Paramount
since my 9th grade year, all the way to my Junior year
right now. I play football, volleyball,
rugby, track and field, and I'm in the PI club. The PI Club is a group of kids
that want to learn how to do dances, Polynesian dances,
Hawaiian dances. On this day,
Soma and his classmates were headed to the Queen Mary
for a special performance. We have one specific dance
for the boys. It's like a warrior dance
called the Haka. That was great. The Pacific Islander community
is very large in the South Bay area. It's a very, very loving community,
and everyone knows everyone. And everyone loves to dance,
and everyone loves to share, so that's also very nice. Keresoma is a very outgoing
young man. He's already said, "Miss T., I want to be president of the club
next year." And sometimes
just throughout the day, he'll come in the classroom and say, "Hi, give me a hug, Aunty",
and then he'll leave. So, he's just a sweet, sweet kid. As the student's
went about their normal lives, across the nation,
there were concerns about the future of college access. One of the tragedies
of higher education is that still we're serving
fairly select populations. By continuing to cut funding, what we see is that the institutions
are forced to turn away students. The United States
used to be the leader in higher education obtainment, that is, the percent graduating
from college, and now we've slipped considerably. Did you hear about our Bishop game? Yeah, it was pretty cool. My whole family pretty much
lives in Lake Isabella. Like, we're pretty much related
to everyone -- have a huge family. My grandma owns Cheryl's Diner,
and I work there. And it's fine. I have a job.
I'll always have a job if I need it. Okay, I'll go outside. It's really great working
with Jessica at the diner, and it's actually really great working with my family
at the diner, you know. And we've all done that forever. I didn't graduate high school.
I quit school when I was a senior. So that's why it's been
so important for me to, you know, have her succeed. I get along with my mom very well. And it's nice because I know, like, hardly anybody
has a relationship like we do. Soma, what are you doing?
You fix your food? -Yeah.
-Okay. I have a lot of family. Most of them live in America Samoa. I don't really know that much
of my dad's part of the family 'cause he was, like,
the only one from his family that came down here in America. My mom moved down here,
and I was born in Compton. I came from Samoa in 1979. I was single. I got married here. I met my husband here. I didn't even know
I was gonna get four kids, but God blessed me
with four kids. I'm a busy mother, you know. When they were young,
I took care of them. When my husband was here,
he helped me, but now I'm doing the job
all by myself. Last year, March 5th, I was at the hospital with my pops, and, out of nowhere,
he started getting sick. I called my mom and my brother
to come. And when my mom seen
that he was struggling trying to breathe and stuff, so my mom just told the doctors
to take out the machine thing, and then... ...my dad passed away. And that's what happened. Hurry up.
We gotta go to church, okay? -Okay.
-Get Grandma. Come on. My pops, he always, like,
pushed me to the limit. Even though it's hard,
he always told me to try my best and make sure you pray to God. Soma knew that going to college would have
made his father proud. So despite his family's
financial situation, he was determined to find a way. I don't have no money yet
saved right now for college, but this one guy's helping. And he said in Massachusetts,
um, Harvard University, that they pay your way to college. So that's where I'm thinking of going. What Soma didn't know
was that Harvard was one of the most competitive
schools in the nation, and his 3.0 GPA wasn't going
to make him a likely candidate. I don't know how things go
if you have to have... like how much the college -- if you have to have the whole amount at the
same time, is that it? I mean, I don't know,
but I'll find a way. But Soma, I'm so proud of him. You know,
"Mom, when I go to college, I can make more money, you know, to take care of you
and help our family." While Soma's family worried about how they were going
to pay for college, in Inglewood,
Dontay's mom, Arlene, currently living on welfare,
was worried about finding a job. So this is gonna be
your new case manager, and, like I told you,
I want to make it clear -- I'm still here.
So if you need anything, call me. -Oh, I'll call you.
-I know you will. I understand you're interested
in recovery? Yes, I want to get back.
I want to... You know, it took a lot -- It took a long time
for me to want to be clean. And to actually can say that I'm
two years clean still, that's a lot. Well, I was on drugs
for, like, 24 years. It took me all the way down. I mean, really, literally. I ended up living in an alley. In 2007, Arlene and her kids
were adopted by Imagine LA, a non-profit organization that helps homeless families
get back on their feet. They're like my fairy god people. I'm just gonna put it like that. Without them, I wouldn't be able
to have the kids back in my life. -That's my Dontay right there.
-Yeah. He's gonna be an important part
of everything. You're gonna meet him a lot. -You play basketball?
-No, I play football. Oh, no, he's football. -I'm basketball.
-Yeah? He's my --
That's my rock right there. He takes care of me. I'll come in here and don't do nothing, and he'll come in here
and clean up the whole house. He takes care of me. He does.
He takes care of me. That's my boy. I made this book for my mom after we came back
from visiting my dad, and I took lots of pictures. This is in Tijuana at the beach. And this is my mom and dad. My dad -- He wasn't here
when I was born. He was put into jail
and then bailed out. And then, January 25th,
I remember, of last year, a law passed saying
that any resident that commits a crime
is immigrated out of the country. And he was in a detention center
for a year and a half, and just a few weeks ago,
like, they deported him. This is a picture of my dad. He was trying to be funny there. Memories. Right now, everything is uncertain. Like, we might just go visit him
over the summer when we, like,
don't have school, and... Or we might just...
I don't know. As junior year
was coming to an end, the college admissions process
was just beginning. Step one:
Take the SAT. To tell you the truth,
the SAT was the hardest test I ever took in my life. Like, I seen words I didn't even know how to
pronounce, how to say. So I'm gonna try to take the SAT
as much as I can so I can get a good score. I think I did pretty well
on the writing portion of it. That wasn't very hard. But I don't know.
We'll see when my scores come. I'm taking the SAT test.
That's coming on June 7th. I feel confident
'cause it's like any other test. All I gotta do is just, like,
pray to God and stuff to help me, like,
try to pass this test. I'm taking the SAT and the ACT. I've heard that they're really hard, and I wanna score lots of points so I can get accepted
to a good college. Every year, colleges talk about how much more competitive
they were than the year before, and so, that anxiety around test prep is feeding this frenzy of,
"How much test prep I can get," and, "How much more
my scores can go up." Low-income students don't have access to
these test-prep classes, and they tend to do worse
on the SAT on average. In fact, if you look
at the national averages as family income goes up from $20,000 to over $200,000 a year, students' SAT scores
directly correlate to how much their families make. That's not because the kids -- rich kids are smarter, it's because of the opportunities
that students have. Baking soda.
One teaspoon. And salt, right? Make sure you don't rip the recipe when you do
it. Get the sugar out
while you're over there. -We're all in each other's way.
-I know. Milk chocolate, right? -This summer went by so fast.
-It's crazy. And it's our last year. Senior year's gonna go fast, though. Kayla! We just made the cookie dough. Do you want cookie dough? You're slow. This is the first time we've all
been together all summer. What score did you guys get
on the SATs? Bad. I got 15 something, I don't know,
but you got, like, 17. I don't know about you guys, but I'm already starting
applying for scholarships. -Yeah.
-I did, too. -I've tried.
-It's confusing. Yeah. It's confusing, but I've done,
like, two successfully. -I'm gonna go in to talk to...
-Fastweb. They're going to tell you
to go on Fastweb, and it's the most confusing thing. Oh, my gosh!
That looks disgusting! Yeah, my parents are gonna pay
for my college, but since they're paying
for my brother's, too, I'm gonna probably take out,
like, 100 student loans. Don't take out student loans! Well, you have to!
How else are you gonna pay? That's not that bad if you go
to the one that's on the TV. -I can't think of what it's called.
-Astrive? Yeah. It looks like
a pretty good deal to me. I don't know.
I'm just gonna throw that out. I'm just saying, Ben...
I think they're still paying off. -Yeah, you pay them for a while.
-For a long time. They do take a long time,
but, I mean... If you don't have the money,
what else are you gonna do? -Not go?
-Yeah. I'm just saying. We're done! Okay, everybody, listen up.
Please come here. Today we're running the course. Run at a good pace.
Don't run. It's not a race pace. It's not fast, but it's not
your slowest pace either. Okay.
We're gonna start in the corner. It was still a few weeks
before senior year would begin, but already, cross country practice was
underway. Go! ♪ I once was so brave ♪ ♪ No fear laced my faith ♪ This was Cecilia's third year
of cross country, and she was the second fastest
runner on the girl's team. Running had become
more than just a sport for Cecilia. It was a way for her to escape
the pressures she felt at home. Hispanic women are expected
to stay home and clean the house and take care of their husband. I don't want to be a housewife. Like, I wanna be
an independent woman. It's so hard to move away
from the expectations and, like, prove to them
that I'm serious. ♪ I don't care what they say ♪ ♪ I don't care what they do ♪ ♪ I don't care anymore
'cause I'm living the proof ♪ ♪ And I'm stronger because
of what I have been through ♪ ♪ And I know this is
what I was made to do ♪ ♪ Made to do ♪ My mom's thinking about moving
to Mexico to go with my dad, and she wants us to go with her. I'm gonna have to listen to her
'cause I'm not 18 yet, and I'm scared of her, like,
making these choices and changes. Okay, here. First and foremost,
we have got to work harder. I know there's a lot of us
that are competitive, and we don't like to lose. We all need to decide
why we're here. With summer ending, the reality of senior year
was starting to set in. Senior year -- I'm not even sure
what to think about it. It's bittersweet. It's cool that we're seniors, you know, like,
we're finally there. And I know this year
is gonna go by really fast, which kind of scares me even more because once it's over, it's over,
you know, and... I don't know, like... Scary. Scary, scary. -Hello.
-Hi. I have hard classes this year, and I'm not really
looking forward to it. Drama 2, AP English,
Math Analysis, Government, Econ,
and Leadership. Have a good year.
Be sure and see me first thing. Get started on those scholarships. I know.
I need to talk to you about that. You'll probably be real busy
the first week, but... -Anytime.
-Okay. Just come in and talk to me. Welcome back. Today is the first game.
Locke game. It's cracking. You see my voice --
it's gone already. It ain't even started.
It's so loud. I'm so ready. I'm focused. It's the first game.
We're ready. Locke. Let's go. We're very excited
about this season. We have our work cut out for us, but we look forward
to the challenge. Dontay is a big part of the process. He's going to be playing
offensive guard. He's the fastest lineman
in the nation. He's gonna be playing linebacker. We want him to hit people
and hit them hard. Defense on 3! Defense on 3! 1, 2, 3 --
Defense! Dontay was intent
on getting a football scholarship, and today was his first chance
to impress the scouts. The LA Jordan program
has been one that I've watched -- in the years that I've been at SC --
to really come alive. We're here recruiting kids because it's a program that really does elevate
kids' opportunities, and so, we're pleased to be here. It's the first game of the year,
and here I am, you know. It's the first chance to get out,
and I came right to Jordan. Nice victory. First game. 42-17 or whatever. You feel me --
We knocked it out, you know. LA Jordan, we on top. First game, Locke game. It went good.
We got the win. We're ready for next week. How'd Dontay play? Great. He had his Dontay special. What'd he get?
24 yards on the Dontay special? About 24 yards on the Dontay special. He almost scored. Cecilia's mom was making
frequent trips down to Mexico to visit her dad. Tired of being left home alone and nervous that the trips
would become more permanent, Cecilia decided to move in
with her best friend's family. We just didn't want to see Cecilia have to go to
Mexico or go to another place. And my wife was like,
"You know, I wanna see her have the same opportunities
as our children." My mom -- she's only looking
for herself right now, and I understand that, but I'm looking
for better things for myself, and this is one of them. I feel a lot more comfortable
with this family. Okay? I feel like I actually can have
a future with this family, and it's easier here,
and, like, I don't feel by myself. We pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.
You may be seated. Keresoma is a very unique
young man. He has a lot of charisma
and personality, but college is not usually something that's
pushed in their culture. In fact, Dr. Victor Thompson
started this group called NPIEN, and what they're trying to do is expose the
parents and the students to the benefits of going to college. The mission of NPIEN
is to help students -- number one -- believe
that they can go to college. 1 out of 10 Pacific Islanders
actually graduate from college, and so that's why our message
is an important one. So it's helping them to believe, and then, secondly,
introducing them to mentors and other role models
within the community. Like many of his peers, Soma's educational goals were
driven by his economic situation. In fact, 25% of Pacific Islander children live
below the poverty line and college is often seen
as their only way out. This country is afraid of dealing
with issues of class. And we have to recognize
that poor students are predominantly underrepresented in higher
education. In our first generation communities, the most cost effective way
to break the cycle of poverty is to get young people
with a college degree. With senior year well underway, Cecilia was the first student to meet
with her high school counselor for her graduation check. The first thing I want you to take
a look at is your transcripts. So let's go over that. I see that you've been taking
all the right courses, including your AP courses
and honors classes, and you've done very well. So, have you started to take a look
at your scholarships? No, I haven't, but I'm planning to. Okay. A lot of times family members
can provide some money, too and a lot of times, you know,
aunts and uncles and grandparents have saved a little bit of money. I'm not sure. Have they done
anything like that? Have they said? -No.
-No? -No. I'm on my own.
-You're on your own? -Yeah.
-Okay. You told me the colleges
you want to go to, but what were the top three
you were looking at? UCLA, Santa Barbara,
and Fresno State. Right. UCLA, of course,
is difficult to get into in the sense that it has
so many people apply, but a lot of times, a good, solid student can get
into UCLA also, but a lot of it
is gonna be dependent on what you've got
in your personal statement. Concentrate on that particular aspect. Keep your grades up and then concentrate
on that personal statement, you know. So take a look at your own
personal qualities, I guess, and what you've done. Many low-income students
are doing it completely on their own. They may not have a parent who can help them
through the process. A parent may not even speak English to be
able to help them and give them feedback
on their essays, or edit it for them, or just give them any kinds of support. They don't talk
about going to college. Their moms and dads
don't drive them around the fall or the summer
between 11th and 12th grade to visit different campuses. A lot of these students have never even set
foot on a college campus. They think it's private territory,
even if it's a public like UCLA. Cross country. Do they have a good team? Women's cross country. Look how tall they are!
Oh, my God. Wow. 5'7", 5'8", 5'7", 5'4", 5'9" -- I'm 5'4", okay.
This is... Well, I'm 5'1". UCLA's my dream school, like... I don't know, just everything. I wanna be a Bruin. I just wanna get accepted there,
like, so bad. Everyone who's in chapter 3 -- Does anybody need the computer? Okay. It's all set up and ready to go. Hopefully, you know, I get accepted into a
historically black college you know, like Atlanta A&T, Georgia, you know, Clark, you know, um... What else?
Morris Brown, you know, Morehouse. So, that's one big, you know,
a big dream that I have, and, you know,
hopefully it can come true. So the amendment process
illustrates federalism by the amendments that are
proposed at a national level but are ratified
on a state-by-state basis. They propose national, like, big -- Like, you feel me, the whole -- National means nation, you know, so, like, the whole nation level, but they gotta be ratified
by state by state. You feel me out? The states gotta join together,
agree on each one. If I get bad grades,
I can't play football, you know, I can't run track,
I can't do what I wanna do. So, you know, I gotta do
what I have to do to do what I wanna do. Yeah. Dontay's grades had been
drastically improving since he got out of juvenile
detention his sophomore year. Now he had an overall GPA of 2.8 and was working hard to try
to make it on the honor roll this year. -Hi, Jessica.
-Hi. Come on in. We're gonna go over
your transcripts, and we're gonna make sure
that you're ready for college, that you're on track. So as far as your standing
in your class, there's 144 seniors this year, and you are number 14, which is something
to be very proud of. So what do you think you're going
to do after high school? I don't want to really leave home. Like, my whole family lives
in the valley, and I don't have a problem
commuting back and forth to a different city. Some of our students haven't had enough
exposure to the outside world, so, as counselors, our challenge here would be
to bring the outside world in so that they realize that there's a whole world
of possibilities out there. I think your idea
to stay near family is really good, but it also could be
your back-up plan because you're bright enough that you can apply to just
about any state college, and you would be accepted. She was talking to me
about my class rank and my GPA, and she was saying that basically
I could get into any four-year in the state that I wanted to,
and I just didn't even know that. I honestly didn't think
that I could get in that easily. All right.
I have a lot to think about. I think that going to a 4-year
and living somewhere else would be really exciting, but, at the same, it's gonna be
really scary 'cause it's all new. You're not gonna know anybody,
you're not gonna -- you're gonna be in a completely
new, different place and not have any security. ♪ Caught in between
what you want and what you need ♪ ♪ So come on, come on ♪ I am definitely going to go to college. That's not
going to change. It's just where and money
and scholarships and everything. I don't know.
I just have a lot to think about. ♪ You say I should just slow down ♪ ♪ But you know that I can't ♪ We've got a league race today. It's our last league race
of the season. We're running against Stockdale
and Centennial, two of our bigger rivals this year. So it's a pretty big race. Cecilia's got a definite chance to run for
several schools in California. Cross country doesn't typically
give out 100% scholarships, but she's definitely the caliber for some of the smaller schools
in the state to get a scholarship and run. This race is my last race
for cross country, like, since I'm a senior, and I wanna do good. Runners set. ♪ Gonna make you believe,
make you believe ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make a change
for the world to see ♪ ♪ If you can keep up with me ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make you believe ♪ After winning
the first race of the season, Cecilia began to blow away
the competition and ended up becoming
North High's number-one runner and one of the fastest girls
in Kern Valley. I qualified for State. I'm the only person from North High that
qualified to State. -Well, I hope I get to see you again.
-Okay. -All right, man. You did a good job.
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
-Thank you. I had a coach from BC -- He just told me if I wanted to run
to contact him and gave me his card. What's BC? BC? Bakersfield College.
Like, it's here. And they have a pretty good team,
but I wanna go to a UC. Bakersfield College, or BC,
is the local community college that many students
from Bakersfield and Kern Valley decide to attend as an alternative
to a four-year university. Community colleges
serve great purposes for particular kinds of students, but the reality is
that upper-class kids who could go
to a first-tier institution will because the support structures exist with their
families, with their high schools,
and with their communities. In low-college-going schools, those support structures
are totally absent. The result is that at the 146 most selective
schools in the country, 74% of students come
from the wealthiest quartile while only 3% come from the poorest. Watts is a community that's been
abandoned by our society. Watts is a community that's -- where crime and gangs and drugs have been allowed to flourish. We have overcrowding
in the neighborhood. People living in garages. A high rate of incarceration
of at least one parent. A lot of one-parent families. All of our students,
when you talk to them, have been assaulted
at least one time on their way to school, way home. There's not a day that goes by
that we don't think about these things or our students are not being influenced by
these things. When we come on Monday,
we have to be concerned and thinking about what happened
over the weekend. Who was shot?
Who was hurt? We pray to God that it wasn't
one of our students. -Hello!
-How're you doing? -Good. How are you?
-I'm all right. -Ready to do your grad check?
-Yeah. Okay. When you look
at your graduation requirements, there's an amount that's required
for graduation for a diploma, and then there's
the recommended requirements for when you're applying to colleges. So in the spring, you're gonna have Physics,
Spanish 2, your senior English. I gotta take Physics? It's highly recommended. That's gonna be all work.
Physics, Spanish, and Math. That's gonna be... It'll be work, but you can do it. I personally believe that all students have the
potential to go to college. It's definitely a possibility for Dontay.
I mean, he's got a lot of potential. The critical thing with Dontay
he needs to keep in mind is managing the deadlines. Okay, so will you bring in
your SAT score to me tomorrow? Now, if you took it once before,
are you gonna take it again? -Yeah.
-Okay. On your to do list -- See Miss Cox for SAT prep class
on Saturdays. And then I wrote Mr. Whitman also has the
SAT prep during the week, so at least you have two options. But I think with your schedule that you're probably gonna want
the Saturday. Okay? Okay. In low-income schools,
especially in California, the college-counselor-to-student rate is 1 to about 800 students. Now think of that for a moment. That means that 800 students
need to rely on one individual to go to college. That's not a very good number. -So, you are a senior now.
-Yeah. -Isn't that exciting?
-Yeah. What do you want to do
after high school? Well, after high school I'm trying
to go to university, college and do engineering or mechanic -- anything that deals with fixing stuff. Fixing --?
What do you want to fix? Like cars or computers. -You just like to hands-on fix things.
-Yeah. Soma realized that Harvard
was out of his reach and instead set his sights
on the only school he had visited, the University of Southern California. Well, my dream school is USC,
but I don't know, like... I have to do a lot of work
to get my GPA up that high in order for me to go there. Okay, so these are the colleges
and universities in the state of California that you can go ahead
and take a look at. Good. -Do you have any questions for me?
-No. Okay. Thank you. And the kick is up... It's the middle of my senior year.
We're doing good. We're in the playoffs,
and everything's good, you know. So I signed up for the ACT, and that's the same day
as the big game, so if we make it, I'm gonna have to
reschedule that or something. The real challenge for Dontay
or for any first-generation student going to college
is learning the system. Learning about the importance
of SAT, ACT tests and explain to the student you really need to
take the SAT prep class to prepare for something
in the future. These tests is a must-do for colleges, but right now, you know,
since we're in the playoffs, I haven't even been, you know, thinking about
the classes. We're just really thinking
about this football. Boyd back to pass.
He fires long... Touchdown Jordan! Hey, fellas!
Way to go, man! Clap it up! Clap it up! Clap it up! Really, you know, the classes -- I'll take them after -- after, if they're still available. I'll take them to help out
with my preparation, but if not, you know,
I'll just have to do my best and try my hardest, that's it. Bulldogs on 3. -1, 2, 3 --
-Bulldogs! Anywhere is fine. -Hey, Jess.
-Hey. -What's going on?
-Nothing. Actually, I'm waiting for Jess
to get off. -Oh, okay.
-I'm Jess' dad. Do you want something to drink?
Are you? -Yeah.
-Well, that's great. You want something to drink
while you're waiting? -Sure, an iced tea.
-Okay. My parents got a divorce
in my freshman year. My dad and, like, our relationship
is a lot a different now, I'd say. I don't really see him that often,
and it's sad, and I wish it wasn't like that. Sand, I think we're gonna eat outside. Oh, okay. I don't really talk to my dad
a whole lot about school and college
and things. He hasn't offered to help me, and I don't want to ask him. I'm not afraid to ask him, but I don't want to get in a fight,
in an argument about it, and I know that it will. So what happens
if some of these scholarships don't come through? How do you think
you'll be able to go? Well, I don't know. I mean, if I have to,
then I'll get a loan, I guess. That's not what I want to do, but... Well, you're gonna waitress, right,
this summer, so hopefully,
you can save a little bit. Yeah. I'm gonna try to save up as much
as I can, but I'm not doing well. I've got my car and my insurance
and everything, and I have, like, no money
in my savings. I'm not...
I don't know, but... I mean, when I was Jess' age,
I always had to go out and work. Nothing's for free. I mean, that's not the way
it's supposed to be. If you want something, you earn it. I've tried to instill that
with my children, so... Well, obviously,
it works 'cause she knows. She said she's working. She's been working
for a few years now, so... Well, what about going up here
for a little while, taking some of the classes
you gotta have? I don't wanna go up here. Well, I know, but if you had to.
I mean... I don't...
I don't want to. I won't be... I don't know.
I don't wanna go up here. Well, they got a community college
up here. Cerro Coso. I know there's some classes
that she's gotta be able to take. You know, in the world these days,
you need a college education, so they say so. I personally believe some
of the people that go to college just 'cause they have
a piece of paper doesn't mean that they know
what they're doing, at least in the business
that I'm in, so... But I think it's great,
and I hope she can follow through. Well,
at least if you're staying up here, you can work up here some. It'll be fine. See what happens. I know that he loves me,
and I know that he tries. But at the same time, I wonder,
you know, how hard he's trying. The California economy
is getting really bad. It's really rough to keep up
our mortgage payments. And work is getting
really hard to find. We do demolition,
and we also sell equipment. And the housing market's gone, so there went
all of our equipment sales. So we decided to kind of move on to a place with a lot more
stable economy. We're doing this
because we know it's better for us, but, at the same time, it's
the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my whole, entire life. I just found out that Michelle's
parents and her family are moving, and I have to make a decision of whether I go with them
or I stay with my mother. I love my mom,
but it's just hard living with her. Have you spoken to your mother
about moving out of state? Yes. She said she wasn't okay with it,
but she was going to let me do what I wanted to
and what I needed to do. Leaving my senior year is traumatic. And no matter what happens,
I'm gonna go to college. So... It doesn't make a difference, really. The number-one driver of economic growth in
the United States is the college graduation rate
of the adult population. The cost to the economy ran in on the order
of 400 to 600 billion dollars from the fact that we are not
providing the same opportunities to low-income students. And we've done research
that's highlighted how for every dollar
we invest in higher education, we get a $3 return. We're talking about demand. Demand is what drives
any economic system. You can't sell stuff without it. I should've went and talked
to my counselor about applying to colleges early and for her to help me. 'Cause right now, I'm, like, I'm really struggling through,
like, applying to it, and the money thing. Soma lived with nine family members
in a two-bedroom apartment. Because of the cramped quarters, Soma slept
on the couch while his mom made her bed
on the living room floor. With such a close-knit family, Soma's mom was concerned
about him moving away for college, so she sat down with him to talk
about where he wanted to apply. USC, where's that? Over there, LA. So it's near, right? No, it's a little bit far. Yeah, but you can stay
on campus, too? Yeah, but my counselor said
I have to this on my own, so I'm gonna go to the career center
and try to ask questions. See, Soma, this is a new thing. Like, how are these things going? Like, who's gonna pay the fare
and everything? That's why I'm signing up for FAFSA. -They already --
-What is that again? FAF--? Financial aid for students. You get money for college. That's good. So how long you gonna be
in the college? Four years. Oh, my God. Four years. You're my only son, who's gonna
move out from the family, and I don't know
how I'm gonna take it. I took my SATs for the second time, and I
scored a 1000 times better. The first time I received 990, and the second time was 1950. Unbeknownst to Cecilia, her new SAT score
and outstanding GPA made her a competitive applicant to any of the top 50 schools
in the country, including UCLA. I still need to apply to UCLA,
of course. I really want to go there so bad. I think for Cecilia,
UCLA is a possibility as long as she has that connection
when somebody's reading her essay. She's an AP student.
She's smart, she's dedicated. And so she's gonna have to focus
on what she says on her personal statement and how much she wants to give
of herself in that. And so if she can get that done
on time and it can be well-written, I think she'll have a good chance. I was offered a scholarship
from Robert Boyles, the cross-country coach for CSUB. But if I get into UCLA,
I'll go there no matter what. No matter if I don't get
any financial -- any scholarships or anything. I'll go there. Like Cecilia, Jess had also heard
from Cal State Bakersfield. I applied for CSUB, and I got a letter on the spot
pretty much because we had a lady come in
from the school, and she just came around
and checked everybody's GPA. And she had letters
for everybody already, so it was kinda funny
and kinda cool at the same time that I got into a college. CSUB, I don't know. I mean, it's a university, but... It's just everyone gets in there, so... Here we go.
Fortune tellers and diviners -- Let's review quickly
what happens to these guys. Okay, their heads are backwards, remember. Look, they can't see in front of them,
which is significant, because fortune tellers
and diviners wanted to...? -See the future.
-See the future, okay? If I could win the lottery
or something, Berkeley is a good school,
or UCLA, or any... I've actually thought
about those schools. It's just the expenses of everything just puts a
limit on a lot of stuff. Jess, like many students
across the country, was looking at schools
based on their published prices, but what she didn't know was that the financial aid
she would receive due to her parent's income would greatly reduce
the cost of attending. You know, $70 an application
is a prohibitive factor for students who are
from low-income backgrounds. Yes, they can get fee waivers, but a lot of times,
they're not even aware of how to ask
for the fees to be waived. Taking on debt
on the order of $19,000, which is the average debt that college students
come out with today, is an enormous undertaking for a family that's living
paycheck-to-paycheck. Every year, people take out loans
for houses, cars, and education. And if you look at how
those investments pay off over 30 years, a home should give you about
6 times your initial investment. A car will lose its value, but a bachelor's degree will raise
your earning power $22,000 more a year. And over the course of a lifetime, a college graduate will earn
$1 million more than a high school graduate, multiplying that initial investment
by 52. Down in Inglewood,
Dontay's football season had ended with no prospects of a scholarship. Now he and his mom were wondering how they
would pay for college. I know you wanna go
out of state, out of state. I know you wanna go
to one of them black colleges, and I know the tuition on them
is just way out of range. All the money I spent
over the years on drugs could have been his college tuition. I think about stuff like that. Me not be able to help him myself... You know, it doesn't
make me feel less than... It's just... I wish I could. And what did the counselor say about applying
for these black colleges? She's like, "The first thing --
your room and board -- like, and everything is gonna be
higher for you, like, way higher,
because you're not a resident. Although Dontay understood
that many schools cost more for out-of-state students, what he didn't realize was that the colleges
he was interested in were private schools that didn't charge
out-of-state tuition. I really have to get
this Cal State out of the way so that can be, like, a for sure. -You know, I can get out of here.
-Yeah. Basically, black colleges --
I wanna go, but if I can't go, you know, I'm not
about to cry about it, you know. Wasn't meant for me, obviously,
I guess, or something. -But I'm still gonna try, you know.
-It ain't over till it's over. Basically, you know. You're my responsible child,
you are. You're the one gonna make
Momma proud, I know that. That's a good thing. I'm gonna try my hardest, you know. I know you are.
That's what makes it all okay. We're here at the California State Cross
Country Championships. All the best schools are here. You get a lot of division
one colleges here scouting, recruiting kids to go to college
next year. This is my first time making it
to state, and I'm very excited. At the beginning of the season, I thought it was gonna be
like every year: second place. But it turned out differently,
and I am happy, you know. Like, I'm happy where I'm at.
I'm happy how I feel. Runners, take your mark! ♪ Tonight we're fighting for life ♪ ♪ We lift our eyes ♪ ♪ Hoping to find ♪ ♪ That our dreams are more
than hopes to survive ♪ ♪ Tonight we're fighting for life ♪ ♪ And we lift our eyes ♪ ♪ Hoping to find ♪ ♪ That our dreams are more
than hopes to survive ♪ Finishing my cross country season
my senior year feels good. Like a hundred pounds of weight
came off me, like, that's how I feel. I have to do everything for UCLA
by Sunday. I hope I do. I hope I get it done. This will be against the wall,
don't you think? 'Cause it looks good
from that side, right? So that's what we care about. Jess, you wanna plug this in
to that one. Yeah. -I love those.
-Aren't they cool? Yeah. Okay, so I'll sit here and hand
you guys ornaments, how's that? When I got my senior check, my counselor told me
that I qualify to go to any UC. -Uh-huh.
-And I was surprised by that. -Why were you surprised?
-I don't know. I just didn't think about that. Well, I know, but I mean,
you shouldn't be surprised. You're smart. Jess doesn't seem
to give herself enough credit as far as her ability to do things. And, you know, it's frustrating
for me sometimes because I see that she is smart and she could go anywhere
she wants to go, obviously. You know, they're telling us
that that's what she can do, but, you know,
money's always a factor, so that's a big issue. I don't know.
I'm just scared to go anywhere. Why are you so scared? Well, I mean, the expense of a UC
in and of itself is a reason not even to consider it. It's just -- I don't want to regret it
after a while. Why do you think
you would regret it? I don't know, like,
'cause I want to get a bachelor's. I mean, I would be okay without it. I would be able to get a good job without it,
but... I don't know. You know, it is going to be
a little bit difficult because, you know, we get
child support from your dad, and that's gonna end
on your birthday. Have you approached that subject
with your dad? Because you have gas,
you have books, you're gonna be driving
back and forth. -I don't think he'll help me.
-Why do you think that? I just don't think he would. Well, it'd be real easy for him to throw you
a couple hundred dollars a month, you know, for just whatever. And it's gonna be hard for you
to have a job to cover your expenses is all I'm saying. It scares me. I'm scared. I've got seven months because I have a $400 check
that I get every month, and that's gonna not be here,
and I'm scared to death. And I don't want you to feel pressure. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I haven't -- I try to hold it in. I try to cover it up, and it doesn't. I'm sorry. It's not as... It's way less expensive
than going to a Cal State... And all the scholarships
that you can apply for and hopefully get. A lot less stress on you
and your mom. Yeah. -You okay?
-Yeah. Every year, Soma and his family attended the
NPIEN awards which celebrates
the Pacific Islander culture and helps families learn
about life after high school. In the Samoan culture, there's something
called "fa'alavelave." Fa'alavelave is an important part
of our culture which means
when someone's in trouble, we give back to help that individual. The problem is if you're making
minimum wage, it's very difficult, because you're in a cycle here
of giving and giving and never getting ahead. So in working with parents, we try to teach them
that as you go to college, you'll have more earning power, and then you'll be able
to contribute to fa'alavelave and still be able to get ahead
with your own families. -Are you all ready?
-Oil? Who has the baby oil? We need a kiki for her! I have to get everybody
get ready, get set, make sure everything's
going good, going great, and then we'll be solid. They gave out awards,
and I got mine. And this is a medal
for having a good GPA. I have a 3.2 GPA. It was the end of February, and Dontay had one more week before the historically black-college
applications were due. There are four different types
of writing that we need to cover
in the next 17 weeks. There's narrative, expository, persuasive, and
description. If I wrote to you
about how the Lakers are the best basketball team
in the nation, is that expository, persuasive, narrative, or
descriptive? Persuasive. I got a slick one here.
Good job. Why is it persuasive? Because that's, like,
giving your opinion. You're trying to make them know
why they're the best. You're trying to persuade them
to see why the Lakers are the best in your words. That's good. That's all I got. Thank you guys
for being a good class. You guys can put up your stuff, and we'll be out of here
in two seconds. Originally, you know,
I had a 4.0, straight As, but now, you feel me,
I got an A and 3 Bs, you know. And it's the honor roll. It's posted up in the main office,
and all that. You feel me.
My name, Dontay Gray. You feel me, 3.25. So, you know, I'm trying to do
all I can do for my senior year. You see, Dontay Gray,
3.25, Honor Roll, 12th Grade. Nothing too big. You know, just a little something-something. I try hard and all that, you know,
so it's cool. Where are you at in the in process in terms of filing out
those applications? Really, to tell you the truth,
I haven't filled out no applications for out of state or nothing. But I gotta really buckle down
and do it this week, though, so that's one of my goals
for the end of the week. You know, gotta start getting
on these applications 'cause it's gonna be too late,
you feel me. Deadlines coming soon,
so I gotta really buckle down and do what I gotta do. Do you know
when the deadlines are? No, I don't know when any deadlines are for
any schools, so, you know, I could be too late
for some of them. So I gotta go in there
and do what I gotta do ASAP. These first-generation students
are getting a competent education. But they're not getting
the same kind of education that students from private
and suburban schools get -- an education that's 24 hours, an education
that's at the dinner table, at the breakfast table, an education that's on the car ride
to the country club, an education that inculcates them
into the culture. These first-generation students have
a much more limited, perhaps quality, but a much more limited introduction to
American and world culture, and that's a significant deficit
that they face. By the spring of senior year, Cecilia had moved out to Tennessee
with her best friend's family, but as she settled
into her new high school, she began to regret her decision. When I just moved here
to Tennessee, I felt very sad
because I couldn't get into school. I was behind.
Everything was just going wrong. And I miss California.
I miss my teachers. It just makes it easier
your senior year to be around people you know. Here, I feel like an outsider. I have had to be on my own
my whole life, but, like, school was there for me. They were like my parents, and I think this place
made me grow up. By April, colleges
had finished sending out their acceptance letters
and financial-aid awards, and now the students had to decide where they
would attend. Up in Lake Isabella,
Kern Valley High School was giving out their senior awards. But the real excitement
would come later that evening with the announcement
of the local scholarship winners. Today you will feel the pride as each student steps forward
for special recognition in the area of academics. I don't believe the students
at Kern Valley High School understand
the whole college process because Kern Valley High School is designated
by the state of California as a high-poverty school. That in itself speaks volumes. Our students come from families, who, for the most part,
have not gone to college. Some are not even
high school graduates. Many of our students
come to us from families that just putting food on the table
is an issue. For excellence in economics,
Jessica Chevallier. Being in a small town is tough because, I guess,
if you're in a bigger city, you know where to go, you know. You know what to look for,
you know who to talk to, but up here, the opportunity
as far as what to choose isn't always there
in front of your face. English Advanced Placement,
Jessica Chevallier. My dad wasn't there today, but he said he was
gonna be there tonight. I invited him, but he wasn't
able to 'cause he's working. So, it's okay. Okay. Drama, Jessica Chevallier. There's a local scholarship application that we
got a while ago, and it goes out to, like, 60 different
organizations around the valley. So this night we get the results
from that. This is sort of like the big deal here. Hope I get something. Well, good evening. This is actually one of my favorite nights
because what a great night. We get to give kids money
to go to college. One of the things
that we battle here is the fear of the unknown
is what it really is. Because no one in their family
or no one they know, any of their friends have experienced any of those issues or problems associated with moving away
to go to college. Leaving the valley
means leaving what they know. I have the Bank of America Achievement
awards. For English, Jessica Chevallier. I would like to present
two $1,000 scholarships to Jessica Chevallier. Jessica Chevallier. Jessica Chevallier. Jessica Chevallier. Jessica Chevallier. I'm going to BC. Right now, it's a lot cheaper
to go to Bakersfield College, and it's more
of a career-based school, and I could get a job right away. -Very good.
-Don't you know, man. I did want to go to a UC,
but it's $50 just to apply, so I just decided not to,
and then it sort of got too late. Like, there's so much
to think about, you know -- what could have happened
and things like that. I just... I don't know. With the football season
long behind him, Dontay was putting all his efforts
into track. I do the 4x1 relay,
100 and 200 meters, and anything else
that they need me to do. So, you know, hopefully,
we're gonna you know take this, everybody from Jordan. I really did wanna go, you know,
out-of-state to a historically black college, but, you know, I wasted a lot of time just
procrastinating and putting it off. So actually, I decided I'm going
to Sacramento State in the fall. ♪ Look at me like a shooting star ♪ ♪ All around the world ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm a different kind of man than I used
to be ♪ ♪ Used to be scandalous,
vandalous ♪ ♪ Never let no punk get
the upper hand of this ♪ ♪ But everything can change
in a moment like this ♪ ♪ I forgot the dreams
that I used to dream ♪ ♪ Like a little kid saying prayers through the
window screen ♪ ♪ I'm gonna keep on running,
ain't gonna stop at nothing ♪ ♪ I can see the light
at the end of the road ♪ ♪ Get out the way, I'm coming ♪ ♪ Look at me now ♪ I'm very excited that Dontay's
going to Sacramento State. He's excited, I'm excited,
but I'm scared at the same time 'cause I'm gonna be losing
my boy, my baby. He's growing up on me. ♪ I'm flying all around the world ♪ ♪ Better live your dreams
like you want to live your dreams ♪ Financially, I don't have a clue,
so I'm putting it in God's hands. Hopefully, he'll have a job by then, and, you know, a couple of jobs
'cause he's gonna need a couple. I wish he could go
wherever he wanted to go, but we really couldn't afford that -- him going
out of state somewhere. Come on now. I mean, so, no,
it wasn't in our budget. It wasn't really in the plan. That's just something he wanted
to do, but it wasn't gonna work. The Eastern League Champs
in the varsity guys this year goes to Coach Butler,
Jordan High School. The payments is --
That's still one thing I'm working on. It's a big thing in my mind, too. But, well, I got accepted
for the FAFSA. It's financial-aid something, something,
something. So, you know, that's one thing
that's going help me potentially make my payments
and do everything I have to do for Sacramento. In the middle of senior year, Soma's family upgraded
their living situation from a two-bedroom to a more spacious
three-bedroom apartment. My old place,
I was sleeping in the living room because there wasn't
that much room, and now over here
it's much easier 'cause I can go somewhere
where I have to sleep. In this room, it's me,
my older brother, and his wife. This is their big king-size bed. I have my little small bed over there. Yeah. When it came time to apply to USC, Soma found out that he didn't have
enough prerequisites to qualify for admission. I was really bummed out about no one telling me
those requirements that I needed to take -- three years of science
and four years of math, so that didn't really work out. So I just applied to Cal States. I am tortured
when I encounter a student at a high school visit
or a college fair who has the aspiration
of becoming a doctor. And as I talk with them
about their preparation and discover
they've never taken chemistry, they've never taken biology, they don't plan to take physics, and they don't know. And how do we support
those kinds of student services -- expanding counselors, and creating
that college-going culture -- so that students can get information and actually go to college and go to college
that's a good fit for them? Of the schools
that Soma did apply to, his first choice was
Cal State Long Beach, one of the higher-ranked Cal States. It was also close to home. Thank you. I want to welcome you
to our awards night. I got home from school from practice, and my
mom said, "You got mail." -From where?
-Cal State Long Beach. "Oh, man, I hope I get this." So I got the letter. I was praying for a little bit,
opened my eyes, opened the letter. I looked, opened it. "Oh, I got accepted!" Getting accepted to Cal State
Long Beach was exciting, but money was still a concern. Luckily, the financial aid letter
came through in a big way. When I seen how much I was getting,
I was so happy. I was like, "Oh, my gosh.
I got this much money." Finally, our 12th grade students
who made the honor roll, after your names are read,
please come forward and stand on the risers. It stated in here. See I have all the mail,
but I put this inside my purse so I don't have to lose it. Everything right here.
It say the total -- $18,054. Keresoma Leio. I am so glad that one in my family
is going to college. For many families, college sticker prices
can be intimidating, but what most don't realize is that families making
$40,000 a year pay only a fraction
of the annual fees due to the financial aid they receive. Me and the Parkers
got into an argument about which college to go to
and where was best for me. And, like, I need to make
my own decisions, so on April 25th, I'm going back
to my old high school, North High School. And I am graduating on May 29th. I really wanted to go to UCLA. I was very set on that idea,
but things change, and I was, like... I had one paragraph in my essay. Okay, and... I just... I know... I just didn't want to write everything about my
whole life. They asked three things
that have made me inspired to want to succeed in life, and I just didn't want school
to pity me or something. I don't know. I just didn't want to write about my
whole life, like... I just gave up.
I gave up on the application. I've decided to go to CSUB
because they offered and I signed a full contract
with paying for everything. If I would've gone to UCLA, I would have had to pay
for full tuition, dorms, everything. I can't get that kind of money, okay. I filled out FAFSA, but I haven't
heard anything from them, okay. The best decision I made
was out of, like... I was desperate, and, like, I know
that's the best choice right now. I just thought everything out, and... I'm on my own,
so I made the best decision. The assumption is the cost of college is
formidable when, in reality, there are loans, there are grants that are available
if students know how to get to them. Poverty throws a lot of barriers
at young people. And they're not only barriers
that make it harder to get to school or get an AP physics teacher, but they're also the barriers
that narrow just the view of what you think is possible. -Is Dontay here?
-Yes, he is. -Can I borrow him?
-Sure. While Dontay had been accepted
to Sacramento State University, by June, he still hadn't receive
his financial aid offer. Afraid that Dontay
wasn't going to make it and knowing that he had
no one else to turn to, his counselor stepped in to make
sure everything got sorted out. Hi, my name's Kelly Gilmore,
and I'm a counselor with Los Angeles
Unified School District, and I'm helping one of my seniors. He is. He's right next to me, so I know you're gonna wanna
speak to him. We're just following up
on our phone call on May 15th. Hello. Um, I need to check my financial aid 'cause it's saying stuff
on the website. It's estimated $20,000,
and it says total aid of zero. All right, so you said
I have to turn in this and my social security card, and then once they get it, it might take, you said,
4-8 weeks to process. 4-8 weeks. Okay, what about the fact
that that's going to be late for you arranging dorms? So, um, they said you have to pay something
before July 1? Uh-huh. -Are you just on hold?
-Uh-huh. Just stay there. Hi, I have a question for you. When we called
in the middle of May, they didn't say that they needed
the social security card. And they said it's gonna take
4-8 weeks to finalize his aid package. Okay. Um, what do you guys
usually recommend for students that don't have $1,000? They can't even make payments
on that? -I've heard enough.
-All right, have a good day. Okay, with the housing,
we have to do it right now. But by July 1, they need $1,000. I don't even know. $1,000 by July 1. Is there any way
maybe you have relatives you could, like, just borrow from
until your aid kicks in? -$1,000.
-I know. Well, I could try to, you know. That's a month, too.
That's what I'm saying. I know. Well, yeah, so I just know what
I gotta do so I can go to college, and if I don't do it,
then I'm not gonna be going like this. While the future remained uncertain
for Dontay, there was one thing
that all the students could celebrate: high school graduation. All right, here we go, guys.
Get ready. 1, 2, 3... Going to BC doesn't bother me. And I've finally... Like, I'm okay with this now. I used to have doubts and regrets, but Ethan's decided to go there, too. That's another reason for my choice. 1, 2, 3... I motivate myself to inspire,
like, the young ones, like my little nieces,
my little nephews. And my little nieces are like,
"Man, I wanna be like him." I like hearing that
from my little nieces and nephews. Like, "Oh, I wanna be
just like Uncle Soma." ♪ I'm right up your road ♪ ♪ I'll share your load ♪ ♪ If you just call me ♪ ♪ Call me ♪ ♪ Call me ♪ ♪ If you need a friend ♪ ♪ Call me ♪ ♪ Just call me ♪ ♪ Just call me ♪ A reminder. You've got about 10 minutes
to use the potty, all right? So make sure you do
before you get out there 'cause if you have to go,
you're stuck. I'm graduating honor roll. I'm graduating with a 3.9 GPA and only two people received
athletic scholarships, and I was the only one
with a full ride. So I'm excited.
I'm pumped. I think I have changed
my family's perspective on women. They used to think that women
were stay-at-home people, like, get married, and that's it,
like, there's nothing else they can do. And my mom used to think like that until she went
to one of the orientations from CSUB with me, and there was
a Spanish-speaking counselor that explained everything to her, and that's when she totally changed the way
she thinks, and she supports me more. It is with great pleasure
that I stand here today to welcome you
to the commencement exercises of the class of 2009
here at Jordan High School. At some point, every student will have to make
a decision at least once about which way
am I going to take my life. So do students like Dontay turn themselves
around, make the right decision? Yes, and that's a miracle
that we're grateful for. ♪ There's always gonna be
another mountain ♪ ♪ I'm always gonna want
to make it move ♪ ♪ Always gonna be
an uphill battle ♪ Well, graduation is
a big accomplishment for me, and, you know, my whole family 'cause I'm gonna be the first person that
started from kindergarten to 12th grade, no mishaps,
no dropouts, nothing, going straight in, the first one
to graduate on time. I got all As and Bs
my whole 12th grade year. There's not one C,
nothing, you know. So out of my family,
really, you know, they know they don't
have to worry about me. I've been handling my business,
doing my stuff, so I'm ready to be on my own,
basically, that manhood. Do you feel me? You know.
So that's good. Thank you, Class of 2009. Cecilia Lopez,
North Honor Society. Keresoma Leio. Jessica Marie Chevallier. Dontay Gray. Please stand. I hereby certify that these students have met
all... ...requirements set forth
by the Board of Education of the Paramount
Unified School District. And the graduation requirements
of the state of California. Ladies and Gentleman,
I present to you, the Class of 2009. This semester I got
a late registration date, so I ended up taking medical
terminology up here at Cerro Coso. And I got my philosophy class
down at Bakersfield, and then I'm taking just
a child-development class up here. It's kinda funny to think
that I had almost a 4.0 most of my high school career, but I didn't go to a university. I ended up in a JC, which is fine, but, like, it's just funny
to think about that to me. Things probably would have been different if
money wasn't the issue but it was. It's not the whole college feel. Like, I know that it would be different
at a university. But, like, I don't want to say
I regret it because then it'll make me
feel bad about my decisions, and I don't wanna feel bad
about them. I just don't. It's kinda hard living on your own. This is my food. I don't have that much stuff. My first day going
to Cal State Long Beach, everything was going good,
going to class. And then, like, I started
getting low scores on tests. I started studying less for tests
because I didn't have time to do it, and then, like, just basically
staying focused on having fun and not doing
what I'm supposed to do in college. Away from the support
of his family and NPIEN, Soma struggled with the transition
to university life and was forced to transfer
to a local community college. For the next two years, I'm just basically trying
to stay focused on taking my GE classes and fulfill the requirements for me to transfer back
to Cal State Long Beach. About my dad -- I think that he's really proud of me
just being in college and growing up to not be
a ghetto person or being a person that's a gangster. But I'm just glad
that he's watching over me. As soon as I graduated, I moved out, and I
painted my room pink. I bought, like, my bed sheet. I'm very happy to live on my own. Like, I feel responsible for myself. I ran at UCLA last week, and during the race,
I beat some of the UCLA girls. And that's when I felt
like, okay, I could've gone there. Once Cecilia was in college, she realized that there were
a lot more opportunities for low-income students, especially ones like herself
who did so well in high school. I wish I would've known
that there's a lot of financial aid. Like, I did know about that, but I -- I didn't believe it
or I thought other people, like, "Oh, it's not gonna be me." Remember the arms, Cecilia. I never had anyone tell me, like,
"Hey, if you are low income, you can get free college." I always thought once you go
to college, you're on your own, and that fact always scared me. I feel like if I would've pushed a little harder, I
could've gone to UCLA. Like, I could've made it on my own, and it's kinda sad now. When we last saw Dontay, his financial-aid package
was up in the air, and he was worried he wouldn't
be able to afford college. After graduation, I just tried
to get all my paperwork in and everything ready
to come to Sac State. What ended up happening was since, you know, the financial state
my parents were in, you know, I ended up getting the maximum amount
to cover everything. Well, Sac State --
It was such a journey to get here. You know, me finally being here
is just a blessing. And it's the ultimate place -- the dorm rooms, girls everywhere. It's just a nice environment. So I'm just excited,
and I'm glad that I'm here. I think that the system
changed my life, you know, my jail time and everything, and I wouldn't change it because
it made me the man I am today. You know, I'm a prime example
of coming from nothing to something, a bad person turned good. And so, in the future, I want to go
back to the camp that I was at and work there, and try to show the young youth
that they can change. I just wanna help people,
you know, like I got help, try to bring some light
into somebody's day, change their whole meaning of life. That's what I basically just wanna do, just help
the young people, help somebody change their life. Dontay finished his second semester at
Sacramento State with a 4.0, and he has hopes to walk
on the football team his sophomore year. The talent is out there, and the question is,
can we as a nation, put the tools in the hands
of these young people so they can chip away
at those blocks of poverty and contribute so much more
to their lives and to their community? By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion
of college graduates in the world. That is a goal we can meet. That's a goal we can meet.
