Watching her immigrant parents struggle to give her a comfortable home made Katherine Davila that much more determined to succeed in school and in life.
That drive has landed her a four-year scholarship to the University of Notre in Indiana.
The scholarship is through QuestBridge, which connects lower income students who have excelled in academics with institutions of higher learning, including colleges, universities and professional schools.
Davila, a senior at Shepard High School in Palos Heights, credited her parents with the acceptance. In one of her application essays and fondest memories, she describes the sacrifices her dad made.
It was back when Davila, 8 years old at the time, went shopping at Walmart with her family. When her dad was putting groceries into their truck, a security guard came up and “bombarded” him with questions. He didn’t speak much English and when the security guard asked if he wanted to go to jail, he said “yes.”
After her mom confronted the guard, he eventually backed off. But Katherine saw the fear in her father’s eyes.
“I finally realized the sacrifices he made leaving his family and land in Mexico,” Davila said. “It kind of encouraged me more to be the first person in the family to go to college.
“I wanted to make his sacrifice not go in vain,” she said.
When Davila and her family visited her father’s farm in his homeland in 2011, she gained an even greater appreciation for her parents.
“Just looking at the mountains, rivers, abundance of animals and the skies,” she said. “I think people take this stuff for granted.”
Even when faced with obstacles of her own, Davila, who lives in Alsip with her family, has pushed ahead, repeating tests if she didn’t meet her expectations the first time around. When starting an honors class in 7th grade at the suggestion of a teacher, she flunked the entrance exam. But her teacher told her not to get discouraged. Her friends also encouraged her.
“I said, ‘she thinks I can do it, I can do it then,'” said Davila, who went on to do well in the course.
That work ethic and perseverance was also clear to English teacher Nicole Sonne, who this year had Davila in her AP literature and composition class.
“Mostly she’s just a hard worker, she put in so much energy and effort during such a difficult and challenging situation in education we find ourselves in right now,” Sonne said. “She never really let up.”
But it wasn’t only her academic work that shone, there was also her willingness to take the lead in class and show compassion.
“She was always very outgoing and polite, very kind, you could tell that kindness kind of radiates from her, even on a zoom screen,” Sonne said.
Davila has other passions outside of academics, including volunteering with children at a nearby recreation center, analytical curiosity and a love for math and science, and religion. Faith, as well as the university’s reproduction of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, is one of the reasons she’s excited to be attending Notre Dame.
“I’m just super excited to continue my studies and further my education,” Davila said. “I just think this opportunity will be great in helping me not only continue my education but my faith as well.”
There were several other south suburban students who earned full-ride scholarships through QuestBridge, including three at Southland College Prep Charter High School in Richton Park, one at Oak Lawn Community High School and one from Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing.
– Original Credit: Southland College Prep
– Original Credit: Southland College Prep
Kevin Carter of Southland College Prep will be attending Brown University. Carter credited Southland, the experience of losing his mother to cancer in seventh grade and the challenges of attending school remotely with helping him win the prestigious award.
Fellow Southland College Prep student Kamaria Gutter will be going to Washington University. An avid roller skater since age two, her current skating style is James Brown roller skating. She hopes to work in community outreach.
Bri’Yon Watts, of Southland College Prep will be studying at Duke University, majoring in psychology or psychology and theatre. In addition to excelling in academics and extracurricular activities, Watts helped his fellow classmates get through remote learning with words of encouragement and advice to stay focused.
– Original Credit: OLCHS photo
At Oak Lawn Community High School, senior Iman Khater won the scholarship to Stanford University for her academic prowess and service contributions.
Iman’s counselor Jason Rhodes said Khater was “incredibly dedicated and thoughtful regarding how she manages her commitments to her school and community, and challenges herself daily to do more and be more.”
“I would also venture to say that she is one of our most respected students by her peers, her teachers and her coaches, being recognized with the Most Outstanding Junior award last spring,” Rhodes said.
Thornton Fractional South High School’s Fernando Lopez is headed to Yale University next fall on a full scholarship through the QuestBridge program. Jeff Majewski, Lopez’s guidance counselor at TF South, started working with Lopez on the scholarship last February.
“I’m so incredibly proud of Fernando’s hard work and incredible achievements. He has a bright future and will represent his school and community well at Yale University,” Majewski said.
Lopez works at Mancino’s in Lansing and has been involved in Scholastic Bowl, Mathletes, and volleyball at TF South. He has a 4.33 grade-point average and scored a 1460 on his SAT exam. He is tentatively planning to major in biology at Yale and is considering a career in the medical field.
The QuestBridge Match Scholarships cover the full cost of attendance, including tuition, room and board, and travel expenses.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
