She was born in prison, was the best in her class and will now study at Harvard

A girl from Texas, USA, born in prison, is making a name for herself after graduating from high school at the top of her class, with plans to attend Harvard University.

Eighteen years after being born in the Galveston County Jail, Aurora Cielo Castner He graduated third in his class at Conroe High School Thursday night, reports The Courier.

Castner’s mother was in prison when she gave birth to her. He had no role in his daughter’s life from the day Castner’s father picked her up from prison as a newborn, raising her as a single parent, the outlet said.

According to the Courier, Castner opened his Harvard application essay with the sentence: “I was born in prison.” She was later accepted into the Ivy League through early action and the teenager plans to study law when he goes to school in the fall.

When she was in elementary school, staff members saw potential in her but thought she could use some mentoring from CISD’s Project Mentor program, which matches community volunteers with students.

His mentor, Mona Hamby, has arrived.who told The Courier outlet: ‘I was given a job on her. Her hero was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was Dairy Queen tacos and she loved to read. She seemed like a bright girl. I still have that paper.”

After the young woman told her mentor Hamby about her ordeal as a mother, the woman told The Courier she felt as though the now teenager ‘needs more’ than a guide to school activities, but even for personal moments.

So Hamby helped the student choose glasses and get her first haircut, according to the newspaper, while dentists, orthodontists and other community leaders helped Castner with her teeth, and she had important childhood experiences, such as camping summery.

“It was a very different environment than the one I grew up in and that’s not a bad thing,” said Castner. “Everything Mona taught me was very valuable in the same way that everything I went through before Mona was very valuable.”

Hamby and her husband, Randy, toured the Harvard campus with Castner in March 2022, helping cement the teen’s decision to attend college later this year. “After that trip, I saw her love for the university intensify,” Hamby said.

Along with Hamby, the Courier reported that Castner also had James Wallace, a Boston University professor, help her prepare her Harvard application. “She helped me tell my story in the best way possible.