A Segerstrom High School senior, 17-year-old Brandy Figueroa, is on track to graduate with a 4.74 GPA and has received acceptances from 15 top universities in the country, including Harvard, Stanford, Duke and Columbia.
Brandy spoke with NBC 4 Los Angeles news reporter Hetty Chang on April 19 at the Santa Ana Unified School District campus about her admission into these elite schools. She expressed her belief that it was not solely her grades that secured her acceptances but rather a combination of academics and her involvement in nearly a dozen clubs, the tennis team and student government.
“I didn’t think I was going to get into any of the top colleges because I had been waitlisted and rejected a couple days before and also the day of,” Brandy said. “So, I was like, there’s no way I could get into Harvard or anything like that.”
Chang also interviewed Figueroa’s parents, who named their woodworking business in Santa Ana after their daughter. According to Brandy’s father, Jose Figueroa, he and her mother brought all four of their children to the shop to teach them about hard work, but they say they wanted them to achieve more.
“I told them, what are you going to do, you want to be here with me or do you want to study?” Jose Figueroa said. “I always knew she was very smart, since she was a little kid. She was very curious.”
Brandy is mulling over her 15 college acceptance letters and is leaning towards Harvard, which offered her a full-ride scholarship. The high school senior says she hopes to become a constitutional lawyer and pursue a career in government.
Here are the other stories we’ve been following this week:
- Dr. Al Mijares, who has led the Orange County Department of Education for over a decade as the county’s 11th superintendent of schools, has announced that he plans to retire at the end of June, citing health issues.
- Orange County students once again dominated at the National History Day-California competition, showcasing their historical analysis and creativity, with the Irvine Unified School District producing a remarkable sixteen champions.
- More than 600 students with special needs displayed their soccer skills and sportsmanship at the annual Hope Cup Soccer Tournament, transforming a typical school day at Hope School in Buena Park into a celebration of community and inclusion.
- Students at Bolsa Grande High School are leading the charge in civic engagement, supported by the Orange County Department of Education in their pursuit of the State Seal of Civic Engagement.
- The NAMM Foundation commended more than 1,000 districts and individual school sites nationwide for their commitment to music education, with eight Orange County districts and several local campuses earning recognition for their exceptional programs.
- Gilbert High School has noted improved grade point averages and higher attendance rates since the establishment of its Sports Intervention Program, which aims to re-engage at-promise 11th- and 12th-grade students through athletics.
- Westminster High School students and volunteers celebrated Earth Day at the school’s Giving Farm, picking strawberries as part of a partnership with Community Action Partnership of Orange County to donate the farm’s one millionth pound of fresh produce to the OC Food Bank.
- Maple School in the Fullerton School District marked its centennial on April 24 with district administrators and the community, celebrating a century of education and outlining a vision focused on project-based learning, advocacy and experiential education for the next century.
- A STEM-based initiative at University Lab Partners in Irvine is collaborating with local high schools to cultivate the next generation of medical technology talent, offering students immersive experiences in research, innovation and entrepreneurship as part of a broader effort to expand the diversity of Orange County’s innovation economy.
- The Anaheim Elementary School District promoted its upcoming Music, Art and Creativity Festival at Lincoln Elementary, by showcasing mariachi, drumline, honor band and baile folklorico performances on KCAL News.
- The Irvine Co. and the Donald Bren Foundation donated $2 million Tuesday, as part of a $50 million, 20-year pledge, to enhance arts, music, and science initiatives in Irvine Unified School District elementary schools, officials reported.
- A proposed bill in the California Legislature, known as the Halal and Kosher School Meals Act, aims to ensure that schools accommodate students’ religious dietary practices by mandating the provision of kosher or halal meal options if more than 5 percent of students request them.
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