Eighteen-year-old Quentorria Darden is an athlete and a scholar with entrepreneurial dreams.
At Booker T. Washington High School, she played soccer throughout her tenure and worked diligently to raise her marks from a 2.2 to 3.3 GPA.
“I would say I am most proud of giving my all when it comes to my work,” she said. “If I could do 9th grade again, I would. I got one C in one class both semesters. In 11th and 12th grades, I did really good in all my classes.”
Quentorria says graduating from Atlanta Public Schools is an accomplishment.
“Most people see it as a bad thing,” she said. “I don’t think it’s an embarrassment. It’s a good thing. It’s a way to prove people wrong. They think that we are supposed to fit into those environments. Most people who graduate from APS are successful in life.”
On the road to her own success, Quentorria participated in dual enrollment, a program that provides funding for high school students to take college-level coursework for credit towards both high school and college graduation requirements.
“In my first year of dual enrollment, I didn’t take it that seriously,” she said of her dual enrollment journey at Georgia State University. “I had to sit one year out. I came back my 12th grade year and did better. I studied more. I stopped procrastinating. I learned that college and high school are too different things. When you have a deadline in high school, teachers work with you. In college, they don’t do that. I studied more. Got more work done.”
Next fall, she plans to either continue her education at Georgia State University or at Middle Georgia State University, where she will major in business management.
Her goal is to own a fashion and cosmetics boutique.
Her advice to her peers: “If you put your mind to something, you can do it. Don’t let other people make your decisions about what you do in life.”
| College/University: | Undeclared |
| Intended Major: | Business Management |
| Career Goal: | Entrepreneur |
| Awards/Recognition: | Dual Enrollment, Early College Pathway, Varsity Soccer |
Atlanta Public Schools will host high school commencement exercises Saturday, May 18 – Friday, May 24, 2019. All ceremonies — except Atlanta Classical Academy and Charles R. Drew Charter School — will be held at Georgia Institute of Technology, McCamish Pavilion,965 Fowler Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. For more information on commencement exercises, go to www.atlantapublicschools.us/gradnation.
We Are APS highlights APS visionaries (parents, students, teachers, principals, support staff, community members, partners, etc.), who exemplify our vision of a high-performing school district where students love to learn, educators inspire, families engage, and the community trusts the system. To recommend an APS visionary for a We Are APS feature, contact your communications liaison or email apscommunicationsoffice@gmail.com.
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