Congrats Grads Giselle Verdugo Acosta Cristo Rey Jesuit Growing through service for others

iselle Verdugo Acosta’s favorite classes at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis have been history and “all of my government classes,” she said. “I really enjoy learning about the mistakes of the past and, also, the successes and how it kind of has laid the foundation for the society that we live in today,” she said.

Verdugo Acosta’s AP U.S. history teacher spurred her interest. The teacher covered “both sides of our history,” whether that be positive or negative, Verdugo Acosta said.

It’s no surprise that Verdugo Acosta, 17, will major in political science when she attends Yale University in Connecticut this fall. She then plans to attend law school to become an immigration lawyer.

She said an end-of-year “multi-genre project” for an English class last year, involving interviews and a research paper, also supported her plans. “It allowed for me to advocate for what I’m passionate about and in a creative manner,” she said. Her topic pertained to “immigration and health care, and the lack of resources given to people who are in my community,” she said. Verdugo Acosta’s mother is from Mexico and her father from Ecuador; the family now lives in Minneapolis and attends Incarnation.

Verdugo Acosta said Cristo Rey not only provides students with the same end goal of all other schools, “which is to graduate as a better student, but it does that while allowing you to grow as an individual through service for others.”

Vice president of the school’s National Honor Society, she said its members chose two service projects this year: building and painting benches for the school campus, and making cards for hospitalized children.

She also is a member of the school’s “Ignite Team,” which she described as a service-oriented group of about 18 seniors that leads retreats for students in younger grades. Some retreats involve activities such as “packing food or serving children.” “Others are focused more on personal, spiritual reflection and growth,” part of caring for the whole person — mind, body and spirit, she said.

Verdugo Acosta was awarded a four-year QuestBridge scholarship, which will cover tuition, books, room and board at Yale, and other costs.