TWM Congratulates the YWLA Class of 2020!

One of the tragedies of the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown of almost everything was the effect it had on graduating high school seniors. After working hard for years, their rites of passage – prom, last day, and graduation – were taken from them. We here at Tanglewood Moms and Madeworthy have featured the Young Women’s Leadership Academy, and we would like to celebrate the achievements of their graduates.

Photo courtesy of YWLA

The YWLA Class of 2020’s statistics are impressive! In a class of 38, 38 earned a 3.5 GPA or higher, qualifying for induction in the to National Honor Society. Out of those 38, 38 were accepted into a four-year university; in fact, 135 universities extended acceptances and offered $12.3 million in academic and merit-based scholarships. Out of those 38 young women heading to college, 27 are the first in their families to go to college.

Congratulations, YWLA Class of 2020!

Below are the names of the Class of 2020 where they are headed in the fall:

• Mackenzie Acuña-Taylor: University of Texas at Austin
• Nohemi Arellano: Tarrant County College
• Janet Armas: UT Arlington
• Paulina Avelar Jimenez: UT Arlington
• Leslie Berumen Flores: Rhode Island School of Design
• Amaya Blakeley: Louisiana State University
• Katherine Blanton: University of Texas at Austin
• Aiza Butt: Texas Christian University
• Angelica Canchola: Texas A&M University
• Diana Canchola: Texas A&M University
• Kimberly Castaneda: University of North Texas
• Brittany Clay:     Texas Woman’s University
• Claudia Diaz: Wichita State University
• Diana Duran: Southern Methodist University
• Daniella Galaso: Babson College
• Nicole Gonzalez: University of Houston
• Amyia Green: UT San Antonio
• Monica Hernandez: Texas Wesleyan University
• Zaida Hernandez: UT Arlington
• Zelah Hill: University of Houston
• Denisse ledezma: UT Arlington
• Aída Martinez: Smith College
• Joselyn Mendez: Texas A&M University
• Arden Morgan: Texas Tech University
• Madison Mouton: Rice University
• Yulianna Oronia Ledezma: Texas Wesleyan University
• Natalie Richardson: University of North Texas
• Viridiana Ruiz: Southwestern University
• Victoria Schramm: Tarrant County College
• Isabel Simpson: University of North Texas
• Kimberly Soto: Texas Woman’s University
• Londyn Thompson: University of Houston
• Sariah Veal: University of Houston
• Keyndou Wane: Sam Houston State University
• Claudia White: Dillard University
• Honour Williams: Sam Houston State University
• Triniti Williams: University of Houston
• Pearl-Olga Young: Mount Holyoke College

We asked for information on several of the graduates so that we could give you a bit on insight into what a YWLA graduate looks like. The following are written by the graduates themselves. Read them. These are the young women who will be leading our country.

Photo courtesy of Mackenzie Acuña-Taylor

Mackenzie Acuña-Taylor

Hello! My name is Macy and I am a graduating senior of the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Fort Worth, Texas. I have attended Young Women’s since sixth grade and participated in multiple extracurricular activities including National Honor Society, FWISD Lonestar Youth Chorus, Sisters Assisting Sixth Grade Sisters, Math UIL competitions, and two mentorships. I am currently a proud member of the YWLA Gay-Straight Alliance and the Co-Creative Director of a student design studio known as YWLA Creates.

Within Creates, I supervise all design jobs and assist in creating logos and social media advertisements to promote local business initiatives and school events. Throughout middle and high school, I have earned 150+ community service hours working at the Crow Collection of Asian Art, Texas Master Naturalist, and the Tarrant County Food Bank. I was a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design 2019 Summer Seminar—an experience that strengthened my passion for graphic design. I was also hired as a Volunteer Graphic Design Summer Intern at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum and enjoy volunteering at the museum’s events including their 2018 Hope for Humanity fundraiser dinner honoring UT Austin President, Gregory Fenves.

I have maintained a 4.52 GPA and have been accepted to seven universities with many scholarship offers. This includes the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Miami. I will be majoring in Design while also studying Mandarin Chinese and Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. As a college student, I want to learn how to use abstract visuals to advertise and portray real world stories. I look forward to learning a new language and traveling to expose myself to new environments that inspire new art and design pieces. I believe it is crucial to experience social and cultural environments different from our own to expand our personal outlooks and recognize how unique we are as individuals.

My dream is to become a Creative Director of a graphic design studio that inspires people to combine creativity, intelligence, and morality to share personal viewpoints and ideas. I am also interested in becoming a linguist studying East Asian language and culture and possibly incorporating my studies into art pieces. I greatly appreciate my parents, sisters, friends, and donors to our school who all push me closer and closer toward achieving my goals.

Photo courtesy of Aiza Butt

Aiza Butt

Hi! My name is Aiza, and I am a graduating senior from the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Fort Worth. My GPA is 4.6127 and I am the Valedictorian of the Class of 2020. I have passed nine AP exams, and have received the AP Scholar with Distinction award twice. I have been accepted to multiple universities and have been offered numerous scholarships, including two full-tuition scholarships. I take part in Academic UIL and the Visual Arts Scholastic Event at school, and I have many service-learning hours from volunteering at the mosque and my father’s machine shop.

From personal experience, I know that health is something most people take for granted until it is taken away from them. A year ago, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease that affects 1 in 10 women, and I know how hard it is to live with pain every day. I want to turn this experience into something positive by going into the medical field, helping make a difference in the lives of all the people who are living with chronic illnesses. I plan on majoring in biochemistry on the pre-med track and minoring in studio art at TCU. I aspire to be a physician and a researcher, as well as continuing to create art along with my medical career. I believe that hard work and perseverance can get one to overcome any obstacle and achieve any goal, no matter how high reaching.

Photo courtesy of Amyia Green

Amyia Green

Hello, my name is Amyia Green, and I am a senior at Young Women’s Leadership Academy in Fort Worth, TX, and have been there since my sixth-grade year. Throughout my entire high school career, I have maintained a 4.35 GPA and have completed over 300 hours of community service while being a member of the National Honor Society.

During my time at YWLA, I became a part of the following clubs and teams where I held a leadership position. For three years, I served as the Vice President for the Class of 2020. Since sophomore year, I have been a member of the Robotics team, where I competed in both the Solar Rollers and First Tech Challenge Robotics teams. I have been Captain of our FTC Robotics team for the past two years. I have also been a member of the Varsity Cheerleading Team for four years and have been Captain for the past two years.

Outside of school, I have also had the opportunity to be a part of the ACE Mentorship Program. This program invites engineers and architects in Fort Worth to teach students about the different disciplines and possible careers in their given field. Completing over 300 community service hours is not an easy task. Still, ever since freshman year, I have volunteered as a sales representative at the Annual Celebrity Cutting Horse Event for The Careity Foundation. For three years, I also volunteered as the Head Cheer Coach for the Crowley Eagles Football Team in the Brazos Valley Football Association.

I have been blessed to be accepted and receive scholarships to the following universities: Texas A&M University, Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at San Antonio, The University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington, Louisiana Tech University, Colorado School of Mines, The University of Arizona, The University of Oklahoma, The University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, Mississippi State University, Missouri Science & Technology, and Iowa State University.

This year, I was given the opportunity to intern at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, which has allowed me to cultivate an interest in the field of engineering. In the Fall of 2020, I plan to strengthen my knowledge in this field by majoring in mechanical engineering at UT San Antonio.

The past seven years I spent as a student at Young Women’s Leadership Academy taught me how to not only be a leader in my community but also to have the strength and be confident in myself no matter what the world may throw at me. The one thing that I have always believed was that being a leader is more than knowing to take charge; it’s about being someone that people can trust to guide them.

Photo courtesy of Aida Martinez

Aída Martinez

Howdy! My name is Aída and I am a graduating senior at the YWLA in Fort Worth. The past 4 years of my life have brimmed with growth and learning. I’ve learned in obvious academic ways; finishing my year with a 4.3 GPA and top 25% of my class. I’ve learned also in the various extracurriculars I have been a part of outside the classroom: Varsity Sports (Volleyball, Cheerleading, and Track) Student Council, YWLA Creates, Youth and Government, and I had the honor of representing my class as class president all 4 years of high school.

Off campus I love to spend time in building my community. As a Green Cord Recipient I’ve accumulated over 400 hours of community service over the past 4 years, serving various organizations. Life experiences though, are what I feel have most built the person I am becoming. I am a proud first generation Mexican American, I am an open-heart surgery survivor, and the sister of a brave childhood cancer survivor. These experiences have shaped my personal philosophy of service. Having come so close to losing my own life, I recognize the value that each of us has to offer the world.

This notion drives my goals and I plan on using my career and my life to give back, to help those who need it the most. I am double majoring in Political Science and Biology at Smith with the intent of continuing to law school and working on public health concerns on a legislative level. Thankfully my resilience through school so far has paid off and I received acceptances to various universities including my dream school which I am excited to be a part of in the Fall. Thank you so much for taking the time to keep the Class of 2020 in your thoughts as we all face this challenge in our world.

Photo courtesy of YWLA

We are so proud of all 38 of the graduates of the Young Women’s Leadership Academy! Their futures, and ours because of them, are bright!