BASTROP, Texas — High school seniors all across the country are celebrating their last Christmas break. Many of them are looking forward to the spring and to graduation, and quite a few have overcome obstacles to reach this final semester.
That's exactly what the "Our Future" award winner for the month of December, Gwendolyn Ibarra from Cedar Creek High School, has done.
Ibarra said her education has always been important to her, and that is highlighted by her being in the top 10 in her class of nearly 400 students.
“To me, my education has always been important,” she said. “Personally, just growing up in Bastrop I’ve always seen a lot of issues that I think need addressing, and I think the first step is education.”
When she's not studying, Ibarra stays very busy. She's a member of the Cedar Creek band, she's on the varsity drill team and she somehow also finds time to serve as the president of the National Honor Society. She is also a co-founder of the school’s LEO club.
“I think, from a young age, activities in school and outside of school have been fun for me,” she said. “I've made a lot of good friendships and I’ve learned a lot about leadership and things like that that'll definitely benefit me well after I graduate.”
Ibarra isn't just any high-performing student, though. Back during the summer, her mom and siblings had to move due to a family situation, but Ibarra wanted to stay in Bastrop. If she would have left, she would have lost her class ranking, something she worked very hard for, but she didn't have anywhere to live.
“I began the year couch surfing and in between hotels and homeless shelters, and it was very difficult, I think, because, especially being so involved, everything was very unpredictable at the time,” she said. “My takeaway from this experience was to not give up, to not be broken down or anything like that and instead I took my experiences within the homeless shelter and things like that and founded a nonprofit, a youth nonprofit.”
She now advocates for other kids who are experiencing homelessness. She also is passionate about helping those with Alzheimer’s and dementia, so much so in fact that she and the LEO Club have made that their primary cause to support.
Ibarra loves her STEM classes but she's also creative and loves to write, like she got to do a lot in a dual-credit composition class as a junior.
“It was pretty much the first time I’ve ever experienced a class that I could just be completely creative, and that was definitely amazing,” she said. “Beyond that, I really enjoy my science and math classes. I actually plan on pursuing STEM after I graduate.”
She graduates in the next five months and plans on pursuing neuroscience, influenced by her advocacy for Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“As I talked about previously, I’ve always advocated for Alzheimer’s and dementia but I actually want to begin studying neurodegenerative diseases that affect the elderly and things like that,” she said.
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