El Puente High School Graduate Brayan Arias Goes from 1.2 GPA to 4.0 GPA by Senior Year and is a First-Generation College Student
Brayan Arias had started his high school career at Martin Lutheran High School during 2016-2017, where he was receiving a 1.2 GPA. He was then diagnosed with diabetes on his birthday, June 21, 2017. That following 2017 Fall, Arias attended El Puente High School, but left mid-year to care for his mother who was bedridden from surgery, while at the same time taking classes online.
After having a personal health scare, Arias decided to re-enroll at El Puente his junior year, but this time with the mindset of change.
“The number one thing was getting my focus up,” Arias said. “I knew I wanted to be successful.”
Arias put his insecurities to the side and began to ask for help. He said the key to his success was finding others to confine in when he needed help, whether it was personal or school related.
Since making that change a couple of years ago, Arias has proudly achieved a 4.0 GPA and already has 11 college credits, making him the first person in his family to attend college. He also has been accepted into 21 colleges and has received $1 million in scholarships.
“For me, education is everything,” he said. “I want to make my family proud.”
Arias hasn’t decided where he’s going to attend college, but he does know that he will major in Psychology and Spanish. While volunteering for his church, Arias saw that’s there’s a lack of mental health awareness in the Latin community.
“In my culture, there’s a stigma that mental health isn’t a thing,” Arias said, and he wants to change that.
Brayan Arias. (Picture provided by Brayan Arias)
Although this school year hasn’t been a typical one, the staff of El Puente have been putting in a lot of effort to make sure their students feel loved and are getting the support that they need, even it’s virtually.
El Puente Assistant Director Renee Morrow said with such a small student population, they focus a lot on connection. She does admit that it’s been a little harder since school is online, but her and the El Puente staff have come up with some creative ways to keep the students engaged.
“We still want to be in their lives,” Morrow said.
According to Morrow, they’ve delivered pizzas to students’ houses, so they can enjoy at-home pizza parties. The school has also hosted a virtual spirit week where students sent in pictures of their outfits. Morrow stated that El Puente takes pride in and really focuses on getting to know their students.
And the fun doesn’t stop there. This Friday, on May 29, 2020, El Puente graduating seniors will be leaving their computers at home and hopping in their cars to partake in a drive-thru ceremony.
Morrow is excited to see the many smiling faces of the graduates, including Arias’, who she met when she was teaching math at El Puente. Her first memory of Arias was when she had spilled some milk under her desk, and she was worried about cleaning it up because she had a dress on. Without even saying she needed help, Arias stepped up and cleaned the mess for her. It was at that moment that she knew Arias was going to be something special.
“Brayan sets the standard. He’s so willing to give himself and be a role model,” she said. “I’m proud.”
Like many graduating seniors, not having a traditional ceremony hurts, but Arias said he won’t let anything stop him from celebrating his accomplishment.
“You have to believe in yourself and know that you have your own worth,” Arias said.
El Puente’s 2020 ceremony will take place on May 29, 2020 at 1 p.m.
Make sure to tell a graduating senior how proud you are of them.
Watch Brayan Arias’ graduation speech below: