Feature on Miles Reyes, an incoming UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry freshman student (Biochemistry Major) who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 16.
What’s more nauseating than doing homework in high school?
Doing homework while undergoing chemotherapy in high school.
Add to that mix hours of prep time and the stress generated by prestigious but sometimes nefarious advanced placement (AP) exams. The AP ordeal can potentially allow driven, talented high schoolers to knock off college credits ahead of time, gain a better foothold to big-name colleges and skip required college classes.
Just ask Miles Reyes, now a senior in the magnet program at Clark High School.
But, while her classmates attended football games and underwent the tortured teachings of adolescence that only high school and APs can offer, the 18-year-old cheerleader embarked on her own journey. Her path involved chemotherapy, radiation, coming to terms with lost hair and steroid-induced weight gain, and witnessing the frustration of her parents and 11-year-old brother as they helplessly witnessed her march through darkness. All while she did homework outside of the classroom and revved up for APs.
Then she landed a scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles.
Miles Reyes (Credit: Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
To read the rest of the story about Miles Reyes’ journey to UCLA, please visit the original story by Gina Rose Digiovanna at the Las Vegas Review-Journal here.
