From scholar to mentor, community has guided every step of Jordan Dowtin-Dorsey’s path. “My time at Higher Achievement is my earliest memory of building a community outside of my family. That experience changed my trajectory in life in so many ways.”
At first, the commitment to Higher Achievement seemed daunting. “It was a big adjustment for me,” she remembers. “I was 9 years old, and being part of Higher Achievement after school meant I was in the school building from 8:00 in the morning until 8:30 in the evening. I remember thinking, ‘More school?! Why me??'”
Jordan’s feelings about Higher Achievement soon transformed as she navigated the social-emotional challenges of the transition from elementary to middle school. “I was sensitive and emotional at the time. I didn’t know how to control or manage my emotions, and I didn’t feel like I had close friends,” reflects Jordan. At Higher Achievement, Jordan gained tools to identify and regulate her emotions. She also had opportunities to build relationships and connect with her peers at Center, and through academic competitions that brought together all Higher Achievement scholars.
That sense of belonging would soon be tested in a profound way. When Jordan was in 6th grade, a fellow Higher Achievement scholar shared that he was diagnosed with lymphoma. “During that time, I saw his tenacity – coming to school, showing up at Higher Achievement, and still being a kid,” recalls Jordan. “He passed away the summer before 7th grade, and we got the news one day while we were at Higher Achievement. It was so hard to understand why someone didn’t have the same chance at life as me. Our community was really hurt by that loss, but I didn’t feel like I was navigating it alone.”
The experience had an acute impact on Jordan, shaping her future career interest in medicine and deepening her understanding of why community matters.
Those foundational experiences opened the door to new ambitions. During her time in Higher Achievement, Jordan and her peers visited Penn State and the University of Maryland College Park, touring campuses and spending the night in a dorm. “My parents both have advanced degrees and always emphasized the importance of education,” says Jordan. “The college visit showed me that no matter where I came from, there was an opportunity for me to succeed in whatever path I wanted to. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would one day be a student at the University of Maryland.”
Higher Achievement’s influence continued even after Jordan began high school. By then, she was interning at the Smithsonian and pursuing her ambitions with confidence. “Being part of Higher Achievement changed how I perceived my abilities. It gave me the tenacity and confidence to go after what I wanted.”
That confidence carried Jordan through one of her most discouraging moments. When she applied to the University of Maryland, she initially received a rejection letter. “I didn’t know what to do,” reflects Jordan. She appealed the decision and was admitted to the Class of 2022, keeping both the acceptance and rejection letter as a reminder of what she accomplished. “Being a woman, and being a woman of color – there are a lot of statistical measures that don’t lead you to believe you can succeed. The experiences that I had at Higher Achievement were instrumental in showing me that I could.”
Jordan graduated from the pre-med track with a degree in Neuroscience in 2022. After taking a gap year to study for the MCAT, she enrolled in a master’s program at Drexel University, graduating in 2025 with a Master of Biomedical Studies. Jordan is now channeling her passion for science as a STEM elective teacher at an elementary school in Anacostia while applying to medical schools for the coming fall.
Before starting medical school, it was important for Jordan to return to where her story began at Higher Achievement – this time, as a mentor. “It’s been beautiful because I remember being on the other side of the table,” reflects Jordan. Her own experiences with community at Higher Achievement have come full circle. “We talk about community. The curriculum and our conversations have covered what they’re looking for in community, the diversity in community, and how to build community.”
While technology has changed since Jordan was a scholar, community and connection have remained the heart of the Higher Achievement experience.
“Higher Achievement is a main contributor to the way I turned out. Everything I am able to do now is because people poured into me. Higher Achievement poured into me. I come every single week to mentor to pass that on to the next person. I hope that my scholars benefit, even in a small way, from our time together.”
And so the community that once shaped her continues, through her, to shape others.