When Paloma Munoz joined Higher Achievement, she was preparing for one of the biggest transitions of adolescence: graduating from middle to high school. Her mother hoped Higher Achievement would help her step outside her comfort zone and build the social-emotional skills that would support her move from a familiar school community into a new, unknown high school.
Paloma loved school, but learning did not always come easily. At Higher Achievement, she was surrounded by mentors and educators who saw her inherent abilities.
“At the time I was undiagnosed for ADHD and autism,” remembers Paloma. “At Higher Achievement, I had time with mentors and people that could help me understand how I learn, and help me go about learning when we knew that I was different—even though at the time we didn’t know why.”
Paloma began to build structure and routine after school. Before Higher Achievement, she struggled to organize her days. The rhythm of the program—homework time, enrichment activities, and social connection— helped her organize her days and strengthen the skills she would carry into high school.
“It’s not that the capacity wasn’t there, it’s just that it hadn’t really been nurtured in quite the right way yet. At Higher Achievement, you could feel that they wanted you to be there. They wanted to see you succeed. And that helps you really push yourself past where you thought you could go.”
Her blossoming confidence became especially important when Paloma applied to BASIS Independent McLean. The application process challenged her resolve, particularly when BASIS shared that she was below grade level compared with other applications. Yet, BASIS saw in Paloma a deep passion for learning, excitement to do the work, and the skills she had strengthened at Higher Achievement.
“I don’t think I would have ended up at BASIS without Higher Achievement. I don’t think I would have ever believed that I could do as well as I did in the end. I think I would have been too scared to take that step and apply otherwise. But Higher Achievement really helped me feel confident enough in myself to say, ‘You know what, it’s going to be a challenge, it’s going to be difficult, but I have the skills and I have the know-how to pull it off.’”
Paloma’s transition to BASIS came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hybrid learning required new levels of independence and self-management. Teachers at BASIS helped her continue strengthening the skills first built at Higher Achievement that helped her manage her time and create structure and routine in her days.
Throughout those years, Paloma was always filling notebooks with stories and ideas. A teacher recognized her talent and encouraged Paloma to join the school newspaper. During her time on the paper, she discovered journalism as a pathway that brought together many of her strengths.
“It fit all my skills perfectly. I have a very investigative brain that likes to put things together. I love complex tasks, and I love writing. So being a journalist ticks all the boxes very beautifully.”
Today, Paloma is pursuing her interest in STEM and communications as a Journalism and Wildlife and Fisheries Science double major at Penn State.
Her passion for writing has also reconnected her to her beginnings at Higher Achievement. After starting an internship with Youth Media Reporting, Paloma reached out to Higher Achievement with an idea to create a journalism elective that would give current scholars an opportunity to write, publish, and share their perspectives.
“I remembered during my time at Higher Achievement, there were so many kids that had so many opinions and great things to say about what was going on in their lives and their communities. I’m really excited for this opportunity to let these kids have an outlet to tell the world what they’re thinking, and for YMR to fulfill the purpose that we really wanted to fulfill, which is to get their voices out there.”
Higher Achievement helped nurture skills that were already within Paloma—and today, she is using those strengths to create space for the next generation of scholars to share their voices with the world.
“Without Higher Achievement, I don’t think I would have made it to where I am today. I will never be able to give back what they gave me as a kid. I can certainly try, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly give back the impact they had on me. I want to give scholars opportunities to start to really realize what they can do.”
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