An Education

“We thought of America as a magical place,” Diana says. “At first I didn’t even believe it, and I told very few people.” She recalls sitting at the embassy, studying the other families, imagining their stories, praying nothing would go wrong for any of them.

Today, instead of waiting around for a bus, Diana drives a car she and her mother share. Over one shoulder she carries an oversized tote, laden with manuals and paperwork related to college scholarships. She hauls it everywhere, and people wonder: “ ‘Why are you carrying that thing around?’ they ask me all the time.” But in a way she is proud of her bag. She says she sees it as a sort of metaphor for the weight she’s carried all her life. Something good will spring from it, she knows.

America has not been perfect. In those early days, the friendless freshman spent numerous lunches hiding away in the library. But she used her time there to write, a lifelong passion and outlet. She also discovered the internet and social media, which, considering she had never owned a cell phone, blew her mind.

She scored a 38 on one of her freshman math exams. But pursuant to her mantra — “try, try again, try again” — she strived.

She did not learn the fundamentals of math when she was in Kenya, which made the transition to high school math exceedingly difficult. But Diana came in every day after school, formed study groups, and rose to the top of her advanced algebra class, math teacher Katie Williams says. “Diana is without a doubt the hardest working student I have ever had,” Williams says, adding that she is “clearly a respected leader among her peers.”

Diana joined groups such as AVID, which prepares students for college, and gained friends (“her disposition is one that attracts many,” Williams notes). She earned accolades and appointments — the Exchange Club’s Youth of the Month Award and Texas Leadership Forum among them.

Now a member of Mu Alpha Theta, an honors math society, she tutors struggling students

“because I was once in their shoes,” she says.

To date, she has been accepted to University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Tech, Stephen F. Austin and Baylor universities. She’d prefer Baylor, she says, but cannot afford it. Applying for scholarships (and she thinks she’s found all of them) often requires attending interviews, which make her “a little bit nervous,” she says. “You tell your story and the memories hit you in the head, but the people are nice, and I know they want the scholarships to go to the right person. If I don’t get one, try, try again and try again.”

Adversity has given Diana an advantage over many young people—perspective. “The thing is, a bad day here is nothing compared to life there. So it is easy to stay optimistic.”

She anticipates setbacks and knows how to handle them.

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back,” she says, quoting motivational speaker Les Brown. “Because if you can look up, you can get up.”