Lorett Alarcon | STRIVE Recipient, Venice High School
Life easily could have taken a dramatically different and less promising turn at several junctures in Lorett Alarcon’s 18 years.
Instead, the Class of 2020 Venice High School graduate has defied expectations and smashed barriers her entire life.
Lorett was a timid immigrant who started kindergarten knowing two words in English— “hello” and “goodbye” — and is graduating having completed Advanced Placement Capstone and International Baccalaureate Career Pathway diploma programs.
The first person in her family to go to college, she is heading to prestigious Amherst College with a 4.8 GPA and full scholarship awarded through the help of QuestBridge.
Lorett’s family immigrated from a village in Mexico in search of a better life for their daughter. But the culture shock was overwhelming, and she could not handle preschool. Lorett arrived at 5-year-old kindergarten knowing all the material shown to her but able to describe it only in Spanish. Continue reading Lorett’s story.