As they slam empty locker doors this month for the last time, our neighborhood’s graduating high school seniors pack memories under their arms rather than books.
Each of the 560 students graduating from Lake Highlands High School shares in the accomplishment of a common goal: They’ve made it through high school, withstanding peer pressure, standardized testing, dating woes, unanswered questions about their future, and all of the other issues – big and small – that seem so traumatic in high school.
Among the graduates in the Class of 1997 is a soccer player who arrived in Lake Highlands from Mexico three years ago unable to say even “hi” in English.
Another carried the football team to the state playoffs and fended off offers from other colleges throughout the country while juggling his school work. Still another lost not one, not two, but three members of her family to death, surviving cross-country moves to different school districts and untold family strife and still managed to maintain a B+ average.
The Advocate worked with LHHS counselors, teachers and administrators to seek out eight outstanding seniors who have demonstrated over and over again their motivation and ability to succeed. They aren’t necessarily the top students or the best athletes or ones voted “most likely to succeed.” But each of these students, in his or her own way, shares an inner drive to succeed. We thought you’d like to meet them.
New Kid in Town – Ignacio Trujillo
When Ignacio Trujillo arrived at Lake Highlands High School three years ago, he was somewhat disadvantaged.
“I didn’t even know how to say hi,” says the native of Coahuila, Mexico.
“At the beginning, I just stood there and looked at everyone and tried to figure out what everyone was doing,” Trujillo says.
Trujillo overcame his language and cultural difficulties and will soon graduate with a 90 G.P.A. while playing on the varsity soccer team, the basketball team and serving as president of the Spanish Club.
Despite his parents’ elementary-school education, they encouraged Trujillo to work hard in school, he says.
“They’ve been a big help for us,” says Trujillo, whose father came to Dallas to work as a brick-layer before sending for the rest of his family.
Trujillo plans to attend Southern Methodist University or the University of Texas at Dallas to study engineering, becoming the second member of his family to attend college.
Trujillo says his motivation stems from within.
“I don’t really have anyone that I want to follow,” he says. “I’d like to be me.”
Trujillo is modest about his achievements and says his education is just beginning.
“I think I’m doing all right, but I have a lot to learn,” he says. “You have to learn something else every day.
“I want to be someone. That’s why I keep on going.”
The Athlete – Davaren Hightower
This month’s Advocate might be just the first in a long line of publications making Davaren Hightower its cover boy.
The star quarterback has a full scholarship to Arizona State University and is confident he’ll go pro.
“I think I should, if I keep my head on straight,” he says.
By the time Hightower was in the seventh grade, he’d been spotted by LHHS coach Harry Everett.
“He told me that he knew I would be good and to keep my grades up and stay on the right path,” Hightower says.
Hightower didn’t stray from his path with the help of his mother, grandmother and Coach Everett, he says.
Last fall, he was a hot commodity among college recruiters.
“That was the worst,” he says, laughing.
“They’d call at all hours of the day and night. They’d call in the morning and come to school and eat lunch with me.”
Hightower, otherwise known as Mr. LHHS, is modest about his talent.
“They (LHHS football team) took care of me more than I did of them,” he says. “The quarterback doesn’t have to work that hard.”
Hightower already knows what he’ll say in his first live NFL interview: “Hi, Mom. I’m going to Disneyland!”
True Patriot – Nickie Edstrom
Nickie Edstrom welcomes a challenge.
Take calculus, for example. It’s the only class in which she’s making a B (she’s earning A’s in her other classes) and the day-to-day difficulty of calculus is thrilling, she says.
“I could sit around all day and do calculus,” says Edstrom, who is a National Merit Scholar with a 97 G.P.A.
Edstrom will face plenty of challenges after reporting to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., this summer.
“I’m just really patriotic, and I love our country, and I’d love a chance to serve it,” Edstrom says.
Once she graduates from the academy, she plans to attend medical school and become a military doctor.
“I’m hoping it will be really hard work and a challenge, and I’ll learn a lot,” Edstrom says.
Her father also attended the Air Force Academy, and she credits him as a role model, says Edstrom, who is the second oldest of six children.
“He’s really hard-working, and he’s a really big-time family man,” she says.
Moving Forward – John Ribo
“I’ve always set my goals a little too high,” John Ribo says. “But if I set goals to be perfect and don’t get there, I’ll get pretty high – then that’s pretty good.”
Ribo has had a job since ninth grade and is graduating with a 95.5 G.P.A. Among Ribo’s numerous high school activities, peer tutoring stood out as the most meaningful, he says.
Ribo wrote an essay discussing his initial apprehensions about peer tutoring and what he learned from it. The essay was published in the Richardson News, which is a plus for an 18-year-old who sees himself as a writer 10 years from now “just getting my doctorate to teach and sitting in the back of a library.”
His last graph in his published essay states: “Time and effort have yielded insight. I have learned that in giving, we receive gifts otherwise unattainable.”
Ribo’s father, who immigrated from Cuba, inspired Ribo to follow his own path and work hard to succeed, he says.
“We don’t really get along,” Ribo says, “but he’s shown me an example of someone who’s overcome a lot.”
Ribo is ending his high school career by taking a car trip throughout the western half of the U.S. with a friend.
“It’s going to be a fitting end to a great life in Lake Highlands,” he says. “But I’ll be getting on.”
Loving Life – Blythe Bader
If there was a dictionary definition of “a people person,” Blythe Bader would be it.
“I love all kinds of people,” she says. “I don’t look down on anyone or put anybody in groups.”
Bader was elected by her peers as the Homecoming Queen, Ms. LHHS, and the senior class vice president. Bader “loves” high school and stayed involved in as many activities as possible, such as dancing as a Highlandette and serving as vice president of Young Life. She also looks forward to raising her children in Lake Highlands and sending them to LHHS.
Bader plans to attend Texas A&M or Texas Christian University to study speech pathology and early childhood education.
“In that profession, you can see where you’re making a difference,” she says. “That’s why I want to do speech. I want to see myself making a difference in the world.”
Bader credits her stepmother as the most positive influence in her life because she “took us under her wing” (Bader and her two brothers) after Bader’s mother died when Bader was in elementary school.
“I’m looking forward to the future because God has treated me right so far, and He’ll look out for me in the future.”
Classroom Ace – Alejandra Posada
Alejandra Posada has been riding the crest of a wave for the past four years. Since ninth-grade, the Tri-lingual (English, French and Spanish) senior has had the best G.P.A. in a class of 560 students.
“I’m pretty happy about that, but I try not to put too much emphasis on it,” Posada says. “I’ll try to tell myself that even if my rank drops, I’m still learning.”
She keeps her straight A average and still manages to participate in numerous activities, such as volunteering at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, teaching Sunday School at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and belonging to the Mu Alpha Theta Math Club, the French Club and the Gallery Arts Club.
Posada hopes to attend Rice University or Austin College to study history and international relations.
Eventually, Posada, the daughter of Colombian immigrants, wants to work for the hub of international dilemmas – the United Nations.
“I want to be involved in something that tries to bridge the gap between countries or cultures or decreases poverty in other countries as well as our own,” Posada says.
“If I can help somebody, then that’s going to be enough,” she says. “Hopefully, many people.”
Creating Diversity – James Bristow
If James Bristow learned one thing in high school, it’s that “people are so diverse that you have to make yourself stand out from the rest of them in order to succeed.”
So Bristow participates in just about everything that he can.
“I don’t necessarily like all of the things I do, but I feel in the long run it will pay off,” Bristow says.
He plays piano for the school’s jazz band and keyboard for ESPREE; he’s the music director for Young Life; and he plays organ in a new band called “Fool’s Cap,” which has already released a CD.
He plans to attend the University of Texas business school, Duke University or Vanderbilt University.
Business studies will be his priority, but he isn’t abandoning his music aspirations.
“I’m not into studying performance, I’d rather practice on the side,” he says. “Of course, if I ever get my big break, I’d love to go follow it.”
Despite his structured schedule, Bristow still makes time for fun.
“I take the time to look at life once in a while or it will pass you by,” he says.
“When I’m dead and gone, I’d like people to say: He was a nice guy, and he helped out some people. And hopefully, made their life a little better.”
Beating the Odds – Courtney Simons
Courtney Simons’ parents divorced when she was a baby. She lived with her mother and grandfather in Minnesota until third grade, when her grandfather died. In sixth grade, Simons’ father died of AIDS. Simons continued to live with her mother (who had a mental illness) until her mother killed herself.
Simons moved in with her mother’s sister (who also had a mental illness) in Colorado, but things didn’t work out. So Simons moved to Virginia to live with another aunt and uncle, but that didn’t work out either. Through it all, Simons managed to stay in school, and her grades dropped only briefly in Virginia. She moved to Lake Highlands a year and a half ago to live with her deceased father’s wife and new family.
Simons adjusted well to the move to LHHS, where she played point-guard on the varsity basketball team.
“I’m extremely happy with the situation that I’m in and with the people around me,” says Simons, who graduated with a B+ average. “I have great friends.”
Simons’ friends and basketball are what helped her cope with everything.
“Basketball is my life. That’s the only thing that got me out of the house,” says Simons, who plans to play for Texas Tech.
“It made me focus on something other than my family.”
