When Grady High School senior Kevin Ochoa, 17, walks across the stage on May 23, he will be accomplishing a major milestone.
“I’ll be the first generation to graduate high school and the first person in my family to attend college, which is really good,” said Kevin, whose parents are natives of Mexico. “One day I want to be able to tell my kids that I was the first to go to college. That’s very important to me.”
Kevin’s next major goal is to attend college. He hopes to attend Kennesaw State University to study nursing in the fall. If not, he’ll take a gap year to work and save money.
For now, Kevin remains focused on making his family proud.
“I really want to go to college, and doing well in high school has motivated me to push myself to a higher level,” said Kevin, who has a 3.7 GPA. “My parents didn’t have the same privileges growing up in Mexico. My mom completed the eighth grade, and my dad dropped out of school at 6 years old to work on his family’s farm. I want to make sure I can build a better life for me and my family.”
| College/University | Kennesaw University |
| Intended Major | Nursing |
| Career Goal | Pediatric Nurse |
| Awards/Recognition | Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) |
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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