Student Spotlight: Overcoming Hurdles To Become Graduates

Camille Carey was always told she would never make it into college. A Texas native-turned-Poke, Carey learned very early she had dyslexia and dysgraphia.

"I was told that college was not going to be for me," Carey, a recent Master’s graduate at Oklahoma State University, said.

Thanks to a strong support system, comments like that pushed her to earn her Bachelor's degree despite the odds.

Carey just graduated with her Master's degree in entomology, which is the studying of bugs’ impact on plants.

"If you want to do it, it really doesn't matter what other people say," Carey said.  

Carey will be leaving Oklahoma to attend Texas A&M to get her doctorate in the fall and continue studying bugs.

Daisy Aguilar is a part of the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), an organization that focuses on getting students career-ready for marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

"Normally, in the past, we would share ideas what they do at their DECA school," Aguilar said.

Due to the pandemic, DECA’s usual state conference went virtual.

A conference with thousands of Oklahoma students was held over Zoom, but Aguilar knew her team could build a format that would preserve their ideas online.

She created her own workshop on mental health and the pandemic.

"Mental health was a big thing for me because I have seen it within my sisters and my peers being at home," Aguilar said. 

Aguilar will attend the University of Oklahoma this fall. She hopes to bring this organization with her and start a local chapter.