Success at Collegiate - Meet Khadija
Khadija Turay is a junior at Collegiate Charter School of Lowell, and she plans to put her knowledge and experiences from Collegiate to work for her in college after she graduates next year.
Khadija joined Collegiate as a 6th grader and was welcomed into the school’s close-knit family. In fact, the close community is among her favorite things at the school. “At a bigger school you don’t get to know everyone on a personal level like you do here,” she says. “We’ve all grown together and been with the same people, so it makes it easier because you know who you can talk to if you need anything.”
Developing supportive relationships helped Khadija adjust to the academic challenges at the school, where the goal is to get every graduate accepted to college. She remarks, “I think [Collegiate] has definitely challenged me more because the curriculum is harder than other schools, but in a good way. It helps me figure out stuff quicker and just makes learning new things easier because we have worked up to it.”
Another element of Collegiate that Khadija identifies as among her favorites is the SABIS Student Life Organization®. Unlike student government at other schools, Student Life at Collegiate gives all students the opportunity to be engaged in shaping life at school. Through Student Life, Khadija has had the opportunity to share her interest in giving back with others. She introduced Aaron’s Presents, a student volunteer program, to Collegiate and then organized an initiative that put together and delivered care packages for homeless people in Lowell.
Khadija is balancing her community contributions with efforts to prepare for college. She wants to pursue a career in nursing and is considering applying to Northeastern University and Simmons University. To distinguish her college applications, Khadija is taking Advanced Placement classes at Collegiate. She is currently taking AP Statistics and pre-AP English and will add other AP courses as a senior.
Next year, Khadija will be a member of Collegiate’s first graduating class. She sees it as an honor to be part of the school’s legacy. “It feels really cool to be the very first graduates. I want to leave my mark on the school to show that we were the first, so the ones that come after us will see how things started.”
