Randa Alraimi

Randa was 18 when she arrived in the U.S. alone without any family from Yemen. After six long years of waiting, Randa's family had learned that all of their visa applications had been lost except for Randa's. Her father made the difficult decision to send Randa by herself in search of a better life. Randa was scared, torn from her beloved mother and siblings and only met the people she would be traveling with the same day they departed.

In Houston, Randa found the culture was very different from anything she had ever known and she did not speak the language. She was forced to repeat high school and felt the constant humiliation of defending her older age to her peers. Financial support from her family ceased when her father back in Yemen became ill, so she worked seven days a week at a family friend’s restaurant after school to earn enough money for rent.

Randa took classes at night and on weekends to graduate from Lee High School in 3 years. She currently attends the University of Houston.

Cinthia Cortez

Cinthia grew up in extreme poverty, often going to bed cold and hungry. Her family emigrated from Mexico in search of the American dream. Her mother has struggled to provide for 4 children in minimum wage jobs. Her father is an abusive alcoholic who has been in and out of jail. Cinthia had to call the police on her father many times for beating her mother and siblings.

In school, she has excelled in Advanced Placement classes and was in the top 10% of her graduating class. She was Vice Group commander of the Air Force JROTC, from which she also received national recognition for her community service. Cinthia hopes to obtain a PhD in psychology from the University of Texas - San Antonio.

Paul Ellis

Paul lives with a significant learning disability that he has struggled to overcome through hard work and sheer determination. His guidance counselor said she never saw him not working during his free time. He took care of his three younger siblings and acted as primary caregiver for much of the afternoon when he got home from school.

He attended KIPP Academy from 7am-5pm, slept from 7pm-10pm and set his alarm to wake at 10pm to complete the rest of his homework after his family had gone to bed and the apartment was quiet. He knew that was the only way he would be able to concentrate amid the chaos. Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP, has called Paul a “rockstar”.

Yahir Rodriguez

Yahir has overcome the trauma and personal insecurity of coping with a physical handicap. He lost his foot at age 3 after a tragic accident involving a lawn mower. He has had multiple surgeries and now wears a prosthesis.

Yahir doesn't let anything stand in his way of living a normal life and has continued to actively participate in sports and other extracurricular activities. He was dropped from health insurance coverage when he turned 18, and now works very hard to help his family cover the costs of his prosthesis and other medical and household expenses.

Rudy Torres

Rudy was born in the U.S. but grew up in Mexico, where he attended a very poor school that provided him next to nohing in the way of education. Rudy compensated by devouring massive quantities of information independently to teach himself years' worth of material in less than one month. When his parents sent him to the U.S. in 7th grade, he learned English in just 6 months. In high school he was moved from ESL directly into Honors classes and was currently ranked 15th in his class of 625.

He worked very hard to excel in English and also held leadership positions in History Club, Choir, Academic Decathalon and the swim team. After school, he worked a full job at HEB to contribute to his family. He is the first in his family to attend college and feels tremendous pressure to succeed, "I am the only person who can help my family out of their poverty."

Feefelobari Yorka

Feefelobari is a Nigerian civil war refugee. Her village was systematically exterminated to wipe out her tribal race from their oil rich lands. Her family went into hiding and then fled to a refugee camp where living conditions were horrific. She had no formal schooling until age 8, when a relief agency helped her family move to the U.S. She felt very isolated at school, alone and in a strange new place.

With perseverance and determination she is thrived, graduating in the top 5% of her class and contributing extensive community service. She is the first female ever in her family to graduate from school and the first female to attend college. She is pursuing a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.