The latest from the first.

Chidyaonga Shalita was the first Ace Scholar winner back in 2013. He always will be special to me, not only because he was the first Ace, but because he graduated from my high school, Highland Park in St. Paul. He's such a great person and his future is so bright. Is there a doctor in the house? Why yes there is.

Here's an update:

"In late November, I received my first acceptance letter from the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Rhode Island and soon after that additional acceptance began rolling in. By March of 2019 I was accepted into (Brown, University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin Madison, University of Cincinnati, Northwestern University, Morehouse Medical College, and Duke University). In the end, after financial aid negotiations I ended up deciding to attend Duke University School of Medicine with a full-tuition scholarship."

Yemi and the Fulbright.

An update from the 2014 winner Yemi Fadahunsi as she continues to explore the world and teach:

“The Fulbright Fellowship is through the State Department which allows Americans to live and teach English abroad that further increases the soft power (diplomatic) relations between the U.S and various countries around the world. I am fortunate enough to be going to Taiwan from Aug 2018-July 2019.

I will keep you updated as the rest of the school year unfolds till graduation in May 2019!”

The 2018 Ace winner: Pa Nhia Thao

Pa has so much in common with my late father, it's magical. She graduated from Washington Tech which was once Washington High, the first school my father taught at. And Pa is attending St. Thomas, the university my dad received his teaching degree from. The circle keeps going.

This is her plan, in her words: 

"I graduated from Washington Technology Magnet. I have decided to attend the four year program at the University of St. Thomas. This past summer, I got accepted to a five week bridge program at UST; Reaching Excellence in Academics and Leadership (REAL) program. The program is all paid for with housing and meal plan for the five weeks. During the program, we are required to attend a Theology 101 course which is a four credit course that all students at UST have to take within their four years. I also got paired with a work study job that will allow me to continue working their in the fall as well. During the program, I have made new friends and built a strong connection with my professor and supervisors.

"Attending Washington Technology magnet, I felt very comfortable in my environment. Now that I am going off to college, my goal in the coming weeks are to find comfort in my own skin. Attending UST in the summer has definitely helped me find my resources and my support system and words cannot express how excited I am for college. This fall I will be taking sixteen credits; math, microeconomics, French 1, and art history."

Aonga, big heart, big dreams.

The original Ace winner, Aonga Shalita, continues his quest to help others with his many gifts. His latest update:

"My time at Macalester opened so many doors that I didn’t even know were options! I have been working for Rise Inc., a non-profit out of North Minneapolis for the past year. It has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much about mental health, social services, benefits, education and pitfalls that exist in our society. I have also learned more about people from different walks of life, experiences, attitudes and learned about their stories. As an employee at Rise, I work to support people recovering from mental health issues, pursue meaningful employment. It has been a fantastic experience that I can’t really do justice in describing. Moving forward I plan on continuing working here while I prepare for graduate school that I hope to attend the year of 2019!"

Ace would be proud.

Update from Yemi.

Yemi, the 2014 Ace winner, has difference-making plans. Awesome to hear. An update from her:

"I am in my final semester of my senior year at St.Bens! I am currently waiting to hear back from two fellowships to hopefully be abroad next year! I am a semi finalist from both the Fulbright Award for Taiwan and the JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching Program). I will hear back from them sometime in the beginning of April."

Go, Yemi!

Martessa Hudson, 2016 Ace winner.

Martessa is from Harding High School in St. Paul and is undecided about her college choice. (My father Ace was Assistant Principal at Harding for most of the 1970s.)

Here is an excerpt from Martessa's winning essay:

“Education is important to me because I know this is my ticket to a better way of life. I want the opportunity to start a career in doing something I love. You cannot put a price tag on knowledge because knowledge is sustainable, durable and strong. I want to use my mind to overcome obstacles and use my hands to create masterpieces. Being educated allows me to think with greater depth and to find deeper meanings. It helps me to think in different ways to understand what I once did not. Education is important and without it, I would not have made it as far as I have.”

Look for an update soon on Martessa and her pursuit of higher education.

Yemi on climate change.

Yemi Fadahunsi was the Ace winner in 2014. Really proud of her news. YEMI: "I want to share with you the blog I wrote through my D.C internship this summer at Global Witness. I wrote about my experience/research at COP21 in Paris in 2015. This is very exciting because it is my first piece of published work so far in my academic career."Link: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/blog/climate-change-front-line-why-marginalized-voices-matter-climate-change-negotiations/