Legacy: The Classmates

Hialeah High School isn’t exactly the kind of place that draws a large contingent of celebrity kids, but Harvard is the kind of place that can turn kids into celebrities. After four members of its 2002 graduating class—Javier Castellanos ’06, Medardo M. Martin ’06, Eileen Matias ’06, and Vanessa Mendez ’06—were all accepted by Harvard, the Miami Herald ran a front-page feature story with the headline, “Four Students From One School Beat Long Odds, Join the Elite in Their New Environment.” Just one percent of their peers typically attend college out of state, and Ivy League acceptances are rare occurances.

The effusive Herald article portrays the four teens as groundbreakers, blazing the path for their younger high school counterparts. However, thousands of miles away from their tropical homes, the students are quick to dismiss their minor celebrity status. “It was nice that we got recognition for it, but not just for us,” Martin says. “It was more for the school, the other students, and the teachers—especially them, because I feel like they deserve their spot on the stage.”

Matias sees the article as “silly,” explaining, “Even some of my family members were commenting on the fact that the country is about to go to war and the front page of the Herald is about four kids going to Harvard. Come on. Let’s have some perspective.”

When they returned to school after their first semester of college, the students experienced mixed reactions. Martin says that he was “given the cold shoulder” by certain school administrators because of the article. In it, he complains that he was not given the kind of support he needed by some of Hialeah’s administrators.

However, the students have all noticed a spike in the number of out-of-state college applications coming from their alma mater. “Our class definitely set the standard,” says Matias. “Everyone in this year’s class was obsessed with coming to Harvard—too much to some extent.” Mendez agrees, “They look up to us and they saw that we could do it, get into all these good schools, and they thought they could do it as well.” She also feels like her being at Harvard has influenced how she is perceived at her school. “From the time I got in,” Mendez says, “I felt like my opinion mattered more. It’s not that they weren’t willing to listen before, but I feel like they actually began to take what I said to heart.”

Mendez, who is also pre-med, explains that the science program at Hialeah isn’t as strong as at other schools and didn’t prepare her as well as she would have liked. “We have voiced that, and they’re trying to change it,” she says. Martin recognizes that he is in a unique position with regard to his high school peers. “I feel more of an obligation,” he says. “Not so much as a role model—mentor might be a better word.” He has written peer recommendations for some students and is also available to answer any questions they might have about college in general. “I hope that I can provide something positive for them,” Martin says.

At the same time, Martin is wary of being forced into the stereotype of rags to riches or underprivileged kid does good. In his case, it just isn’t true, he says. “I’m not going to give you the bullshit that I came from the gutter and pulled myself up by the bootstraps. It’s not that drastic, I come from a middle-class family.” Though she admits that she could have been better prepared for college, Mendez doesn’t feel estranged from her classmates who attended more exclusive private and prep schools. “I just feel like they know more chemistry than me,” she says.

Each has dealt with the pressure that their school and community has placed on them in a different way. Martin claims that the article and publicity have had no affect on him. Matias struggled with Hodgkin’s disease during her senior year of high school, an experience she says has greatly influenced her perspective. “I’m just here because I’m happy to be here,” she says. “Not because it’s Harvard. I don’t have the need to be better than anyone else. Having been through what I went through, I realize there are more important things.”

Though all four of the Hialeah alums are Cuban-American, Mendez is the only one who was actually born in Cuba, moving to Miami when she was nine. For her, the pressure to do well is a constant, but positive, factor in her life. “It makes me want to take advantage of everything Harvard has to offer.” She is involved with the Cuban American Undergraduate Student Organization (CAUSA) and the Mission Hill afterschool program, in addition to independant tutoring. “I do have to work harder than everyone else I know,” she says. “I don’t feel like there is anything about Harvard that I take for granted.”