Although Kevin is a strong student, he found the transition from middle school to high school to be very difficult. As a high school freshman, his GPA was so low that he nearly had to repeat the grade. As a college freshman, Kevin’s experience has been completely different. In his first semester at the College of the Holy Cross, he earned a 3.5 GPA. He attributes his smooth college transition to the work ethic he cultivated at AF Amistad High, and to the continuous support he receives through the school’s alumni program.

In his first year of college, Kevin took a 300-level rhetoric class and earned an A-. During the class, which he took in order to earn a role as a writing tutor, he wrote a 15-page case study and a 32-page paper. Had it not been for the difficult writing assignments he tackled as a high school student, Kevin might have found this process intimidating. Because of his experiences, he mastered his assignments.

Achievement First helped set Kevin up for success at Holy Cross. Although he toured the college as a high school junior, it wasn’t until his college counselor arranged an overnight visit when he truly began to appreciate the school and the campus. With the help of his college counselor, he applied to nine colleges, considered the financial, academic and social components of each school, and knew he wanted to become a Holy Cross Crusader. The support he received in making his college decision has continued throughout his college career; his alumni counselor has encouraged him to make connections with professors, and she routinely talks with him about goal-setting, establishing strategies and improving his grades in the classes he finds most difficult.

Kevin plans to major in either math or computer science and to participate in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program offered by a consortium of Worcester-based colleges and universities. He also plans to continue the hard work and academic success he showed at Achievement First, and to graduate with a 3.5 GPA.

Proudest moment: “I’m most proud of the 15-page case study I wrote for my rhetoric class. I interviewed a senior and broke her writing down rhetorically and grammatically before coming to a conclusion about her work. She is an English major who wants to become a teacher, and she told me that my work really changed the way she thought about writing.”

Favorite aspect of being an Achievement First alumnus:”Achievement First is like a family. When I come back to AF Amistad High, I feel like I never left. I keep in contact with my counselors and my teachers. I also speak a lot with Anabelle, who graduated with me and went to Yale, because we have similar workloads in college and we understand each other.”