Introducing Aspire’s 2022 Shining Stars!

May 4, 2022

The Aspire Shining Stars award recognizes outstanding seniors across our high schools in the Central Valley, Bay Area, and Los Angeles regions.

We are happy to announce that each award winner will receive a scholarship award to put towards their post-secondary education. This scholarship was made possible through the generosity of Richard and Theresa Crocker, to whom we are very thankful!

Our 2022 Shining Stars have demonstrated the Aspire vision of College for Certain. Learn more about their current goals and aspirations below.

To our 2022 Aspire Shining Stars, congratulations on all of your high school achievements and we wish you all the best in your post-secondary success ahead!

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Learn about each of our star's post-secondary plans and goals!

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Hear from a few of our stars and those who helped them on their Aspire journeys!

Image 1 of 9 Liseth Calderon, from Aspire Lionel Wilson Prep! Liseth has been thriving at Aspire for her entire academic career. At LWP, Liseth enjoys participating in BUILD, an entrepreneurship program, as well as being a student-athlete on the girls’ soccer team. Outside of school, Liseth joined 67 Sueños, an organization that focuses on helping students with political action mainly in the immigration rights field, as well as expressing their artistic sides. Through this program she painted murals, as well as attending workshops with other organizations. She also participated in a virtual six week workshop to learn about political action and political organizations in the past. Last summer, she attended a 12 week virtual vocational training with The Young Women’s Freedom Center, and also worked for the CFO of Community Works. She is grateful for these experiences as a means to both help her gain valuable skills and information, as well as offering the opportunity to make her own money. Liseth has always enjoyed history class and diving into issues of racial justice and systemic inequality. As a result, she plans to attend UC Davis where she will major in sociology in hopes of continuing her education and improving the world for people of color.
Image 2 of 9 Giovanni Diaz, from Aspire Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy! Coming to Aspire as a 2nd grader, Giovanni credits the early focus on “College for Certain” for giving him the hope that he can achieve his dreams. Given his passion for physics, Giovanni took initiative academically by participating in a competitive program called TxT: SCLA where he learned coding, design thinking, leadership, and entrepreneurship skills to solve a problem in the community. This culminated in him taking charge of a team to produce a fitness app called Fit-Realm, which promoted exercise to unhealthy youths during quarantine, ultimately leading his team to 1st place. Giovanni found that the experience proved to be invaluable to bolster time management skills as well as visual art and public speaking. As a first generation college student, Giovanni views college as a way to make his family proud and improve his circumstances. After graduation, he plans to attend Sonoma State University where he will major in astrophysics. After college, he would like to enroll in a 2 years master’s program then a 4 year doctorate program in theoretical physics.
Image 3 of 9 Jennifer Cruz from Aspire Pacific Academy! Jennifer came to Aspire as a middle schooler. At APA, she is an active member of the Senior Committee, which is a group for seniors to plan fundraisers to generate money for prom, grad night, and other senior-related activities, which she enjoys as an activity that brings people together and improves her school community. Outside of school, Jennifer keeps busy babysitting and working with her family doing food sales to make a difference in the community. Her family maintained a business out of their home wherein they sold meals, and Jennifer handled delivery responsibilities. She also worked with her father selling meals at church where she took orders, which taught her communication skills and how to assist others in difficult situations. Jennifer is excited to become the first member of her family to attend college and repay her parents for their hard work. She plans to attend CSU Fullerton where she would like to major in business/marketing and eventually pursue an MBA in order to open a business of her own.
Image 4 of 9 Harleen Kaur, from Aspire Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy! Harleen came to Aspire as a high school sophomore where she became involved with BHA’s Student Academic Mentor Program to help students who are struggling academically. In this role, she strengthened her innate ability to break down problems and assignments into smaller parts to help her tutees reach proficiency while also providing friendship and support. In response to racial unrest after George Floyd’s killing, Harleen started a city-wide movement called Progressive Unity in her hometown of Stockton. As the leader, she met with city council members and advocated for diversity in Stockton, as well as organizing protests and rallies. Given the successful impact of Progressive Unity, she was encouraged to continue using her platform to gather hundreds of community members for causes like breast cancer awareness and farmers' protests. After graduating, Harleen plans to attend UCLA to major in human biology as a pre-med student. She discovered her career path after a car accident freshman year caused her to be hospitalized for a month. While recovering, she shared a room with a young girl, Crystal, battling leukemia, which piqued Harleen’s interest in pediatrics. After recovering from her accident, she shadowed her former roommate’s doctor who taught her how to identify tumors and experience holistically treating a child. Harleen ultimately hopes to become a pediatric oncologist so children like Crystal can live the life they always wanted.
Image 5 of 9 Aaliyah Cusseaux from Aspire Alexander Twilight Secondary Academy. Aaliyah has been with Aspire for her entire academic career. During her time at ATSA, she played basketball for the school’s team, and makes a point to tutor other students that require assistance. She credits her time at ATSA with developing her critical thinking and communication skills. Aaliyah looks forward to college as a means to advance her own future as well as offer inspiration to her younger siblings. She feels particularly inspired by her aunt, who returned to school in her early 30s to become a nurse, showing that education is worth it at any age. She plans to go to Sacramento State University where she will study graphic design in hopes of becoming a graphic artist.
Image 6 of 9 Melani Garces, from Aspire Cal Prep! Melani came to Aspire as a shy seventh grader, but credits her time at Aspire for helping her grow into a strong communicator who isn’t afraid to ask questions and seek feedback. She learned more about ingenuity and self-determination after her family went through medical problems and incurred high medical bills. To help raise money, she became a waitress which helped her grow confidence in speaking with others, and gave her the idea to start a side business selling candies in chamoy with a percentage of the profits helping her family’s expenses. She credits this challenging experience for making her more hardworking and selfless. Melani is excited to attend college to provide a life for her future family and make her parents proud. She hopes to attend San Francisco State to pursue a business degree, eventually an MBA, and become a marketing manager!
Image 7 of 9 Maria Isabel Toscano, from Aspire Golden State Prep! Maria Isabel Toscano came to Aspire seven years ago. Though she dealt with a significant language barrier at the time, Maria Isabel overcame this obstacle by regularly attending office hours and taking initiative to improve her English on her own. After graduation, Maria Isabel plans to attend UC Merced where she will work towards a degree in political science. She plans on using her experience and education to become a law professor. In this role, she hopes to create systemic change by advocating for people seeking refuge near the US and Mexico border and improving the process of applying for post-secondary education for people without legal status.
Image 8 of 9 Jenae from Aspire Langston Hughes Academy has been with Aspire her entire academic career and values the way Aspire has nurtured her innate curiosity. Seeking to have a voice on campus and to improve the social skills she had been building since before the pandemic, Jenae got involved with LHA’s Student Congress. In response to the last few challenging years, she’s worked to utilize the resources available to boost campus morale through new school events and schoolwide video announcements broadcasted daily in every classroom. Jenae also joined Changeist, a program that provides a space for youth to develop and practice change-making and leadership skills while building community to act upon social justice issues. As a youth organizer, she has worked on the Racial Justice Committee to plan and facilitate weekly meetings where they educate young people about local and global racial injustices, and discuss how to take meaningful action. She looks forward to college as a means to achieve her goal of becoming an author. After graduation, she plans to attend UC Berkeley, where she will major in English to develop her writing and creativity!
Image 9 of 9 Baila from Aspire Vanguard College Preparatory Academy has been with Aspire for her entire academic career! She found her place at Aspire VCPA by participating in student council, where she was elected Treasurer in 9th grade. Upon returning from distance learning, Baila worked with advisors to relaunch the student council, and was appointed as President. In this role, she led meetings each week after school, hosted class competitions and rallies, and has led organizing some of the first school events following the return to school from virtual learning. Following the pandemic, she has discovered the importance of community in times of hardship and what an impact simple activities can do to boost the morale of her peers and school community. Outside of school, Baila enjoys painting, photography, and knitting as her way of working with her hands and capturing the world around her. Her paintings and photography have been displayed at a local art gallery and showcased in local small creator events. Baila tentatively plans to attend UC Davis where she will major in mechanical engineering with a concentration in environmental science. She hopes to use these skill sets to address the threat of climate change by developing her own technology or working as a policymaker.

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