A girl who was born in prison has defied all odds and expectations to earn a place at the prestigious Harvard University.
According to reports, Sky Castner, 18, came into this world at Galveston County Jail. Her mother was in jail when she gave birth, and has not had any sort of role in her daughter’s life since the day Sky’s father picked her up from the jail to raise her as a single dad.
Sky and her father moved around a lot during her upbringing, but the ambitious girl always had her sights firmly set on studying at Harvard. 18 years on from being born in prison, Sky graduated third in her class at Conroe High School last week, thus enabling her to study law at arguably the most famous college in the world.
As per the Courier, Sky started her application letter to Harvard with the sentence: “I was born in prison.”
The Houston Chronicle, meanwhile, cite sources as claiming Sky was an exceptionally strong student even as a young girl, and a “voracious” reader in elementary school. Yet members of staff at Reaves Elementary felt she needed some extra guidance to ensure she reached her full potential.
Mona Hamby, with CISD’s Project Mentor, came in to help. She told the Courier of Sky: “I was given a paper about her. Her hero was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was tacos from Dairy Queen and she loved to read. I thought this sounds like a bright little girl. I still have that paper today.”
According to reports, Mona and Sky bonded over not really knowing their respective mothers.
Mona added: “She told me ‘I’ve been to jail’. I said ‘No, that can’t be right’, I knew that I can’t just go eat lunch with this kid once a week, she needed more.”
Sky’s mentor helped her with things such as getting her first salon haircut, picking out pairs of glasses, and learning to better enjoy things outside of school.
“It was a very different environment than I grew up in and that’s not a bad thing,” Sky explained. “Everything that Mona taught me was very valuable in the same way that everything that I went through before Mona was very valuable.”
After touring the Harvard campus with Mona and her husband in 2022, Sky’s desire to attend the Ivy League school only intensified. She sought the assistance of Professor James Wallace of Boston University with regards her application.
“He helped me to tell my story in the best way possible,” Sky told the Courier.
Wow! What an inspiring story. I don’t know about you, but I’m extremely proud of Sky’s achievements.
Let us know if you also think that Sky’s done a fantastic job of upsetting the odds.
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