MOTHER’S DAY HOME TOUR

MOTHER’ S DA Y WEEKEND, MA Y 9 & 10 , 2015

SATURDAY: 10 A M – 6 PM SUNDAY: NOON – 6 PM mained close. “I think she was embarrassed. She was thinking, ‘I’m supposed to be going to these schools, too.’ ”

Even as she was outperforming most of her peers, she accepted her fate.

“I didn’t expect to go to college,” she says.

Still, Evelyn kept her grades up throughout high school, taking AP courses. Bush often found her waiting at his classroom door for tutoring early in the morning. She became active in the Hillcrest Biomedical Research Group and The Hillcrest Hurricane newspaper. Her journey came full circle when she volunteered at the Vickery Meadow Learning Center, teaching English to children in the refugee community.

Things began to change when Evelyn learned of QuestBridge, a scholarship program that matches high-achieving, lowincome students with one of 35 partner universities, and it accepts immigrants. The rigorous process takes into account GPA, test scores and class rank. Applicants must write an essay about obstacles they have overcome and obtain recommendation letters — which is when her teachers first became aware of her background.

Thousands of students vie for this scholarship every year. Evelyn went for it, but “I didn’t get my hopes up,” she says.

Her determination paid off. She became one of just 501 students across the country to receive a full scholarship. QuestBridge matched her with Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and she wears the navy and gold T-shirt with pride.

She excels in math and science but doesn’t know exactly what kind of career she’ll pursue, and she doesn’t need to decide right away.

“I told her, don’t rush into anything. Go with your heart,” Bush says. “I really think she’ll do something in the medical field. She’s a very caring person.”

Her desire for an education has always taken priority.

“She’s kind of an old soul. She knows why she came here, and she’s taken advantage of it.”

Thefirst thing people might notice about Lissette Robles is her cheerful disposition. She wears glasses, a braided side ponytail and a contagious smile.

“I’m always smiling,” she says. “A smile can make all the difference.”

It keeps her from focusing on the fact that, unlike most of her peers, she does not go home to the same house every day. When we spoke, she was staying with a family friend.

“I keep some clothes there. I like helping out with their kids.”

These stints last for about two weeks at a time, or “until I feel like I’m outstaying my welcome,” she says. “You’re not as comfortable as you are with family.”

Lissette is essentially couch surfing her way through high school at W.T. White while maintaining a B average. She hopes to complete her basic courses at Brookhaven College before heading to the University of South Florida to pursue a career related to her favorite subjects, math and science.

“Math is easy to understand,” she says. “It would get me a good job.”

Lissette’s father is a truck driver and traveling most of the time. Her mother is a house- keeper who lives with Lissette’s brother and his family. Lissette is the product of an affair; her parents have never been a couple. She remembers, at age 5, meeting her dad’s wife. “When she saw me the first time, she was mad,” Lissette recalls.

They aren’t close, but her stepmom does provide one of her many temporary residences.

Lissette doesn’t say much about what it feels like to be an illegitimate child without a home, only that “it’s hard.” She speaks fondly of her dad and other friends and family members but knows she is basically on her own.

At school she is shy, and in group settings she often feels left out.

“You can be around a lot of people and still feel lonely,” she says.

She was brave enough to combat her shyness by enrolling in theater, something way outside her comfort zone.

“That helped me come out of my shell a little bit.”

W.T. White theater teacher Lisa Cotie has had Lissette in her class for two years.

“She’s very quiet, she’s very reserved, but she’s really positive,” Cotie says. “She wants to do well. They all encourage each other. That’s been a huge help for her. It’s kind of like a little family.”

Lissette also feels at home in W.T. White’s Yu-Gi-Oh Club.

Yu-Gi-Oh is a Japanese trading card game that can get pretty intense, she says. The club comprises students like her who don’t quite fit in. They meet on Fridays after school and hold tournaments on the weekends.

“There are a lot of awkward people there,” she says. “It’s where we go to get away from all our problems.”

Lissette doesn’t seem to dwell on her problems much because, as Cotie points out, “This is normal life for her.”

“I don’t know many other people who can make it through the situation she’s making it through. Some students have a victim attitude. She does not. She doesn’t begrudge others for having an easier path. She knows somewhere deep inside her that’s she’s going to be OK.”

Lissette wants a good career and, someday, a family of her own — but after she gets her master’s degree, she says. And, she is ready for the challenges ahead.

“Easy would be boring,” she says, “but I