Academic Struggles And Success Of Omarina Cabera

This film documents the academic struggles and success of Omarina Cabera. It follows her middle school years in an impoverished middle school in Bronx, NY to her graduation from an elite New England Prep school. It explains how she overcame a childhood of poverty and instability and became more than just another high school dropout statistic. According to the film during research conducted by Robert Balfanz, one of the nation’s top education researchers, he discovered that if a 6th grade child in a high poverty school is absent more than 20% of the time, or fails a math or English course or receives an unsatisfactory behavior grade in a core course, there is a 75% chance they will drop out of high school unless there is decisive intervention.

Based on his research Omarinas school implemented a program to identify and assist high risk students. The teachers began to tutor and guide her, not only through her academic struggles but in her personal struggles also. She lacked the support and encouragement in her home life therefore these teachers acted as her surrogate family at school. This shows us that in life it only takes one person or one opportunity to change the entire course of our lives as they did hers. Due to Omarinas new found academic success, door began to open and opportunities began to appear. One opportunity being prep school. Through prep school she would be able to change her geographic, academic and economic surroundings for the better. Her teachers encouraged her to apply and they assisted her through the application process. She was excited to find out she was

As the “poor girl” from the Bronx, she struggled to fit in with her wealthier peers. She also struggled with the separation from what had become her responsibilities at home. One of which was her brother. Although he was the same age he did not have the same drive as her. Each time she returned home for a visit she was always met with what was destined to become of her if she didn’t succeed. She saw what had happened to her brother. He wasn’t as motivated to get his education as she was. He hung out with the wrong crowd with the same amount of motivation. He had become a young father. So, He would do whatever it took to make a fast buck and provide for his daughter even if it was illegal. That would set him on an inevitable path to becoming just a statistic. In my opinion the view of what is and what could be of her without her education made Omarina work so much harder for what she wanted to