Quisha and her twin sister Iesha share a birthday, a campus and an important milestone: they are the first people in their family to go to college. For Quisha, college didn’t always seem like a certainty. In early high school, she mostly earned “C”s and found herself in detention for failing to listen to her teachers. Then, everything changed. She decided she had to take school more seriously because she wanted to move on to college after high school. With this in mind, Quisha drastically improved her GPA in her junior and senior years at AF Amistad High.

Now a student at Bennett College for Women, Quisha is a journalism and media studies major with a 3.3 GPA. The rigorous coursework at AF Amistad High makes her college classes seem easier than she had anticipated, and the AP History class she took in high school enabled her to take a 400-level history class as just a sophomore at Bennett. Quisha participates in work study, has served as a resident assistant and was elected president of her college’s chapter of the NAACP. In that role, she led student campaigns to fight voter disenfranchisement in national elections. Quisha also enjoys sharing an off-campus apartment with fellow Bennett students—including her sister—and interning at an underground hip-hop radio station.

Achievement First has been with Quisha through every step of her college success, from helping her select a college with small class sizes to helping her thrive on the North Carolina campus. Quisha’s AF alumni counselor visited her at college and helped her find a campus champion who would serve as a “go-to” person. Quisha found her advocate in an alumna and orientation leader, and they built a strong relationship. The woman loves Quisha, introduced her to her family and helps her manage any problems she encounters.

When Quisha comes home, she visits Elm City College Prep Middle, where she sits in class with her brother who is having a hard time in school. She encourages him and lets him know that he can get through his struggles and go on to succeed in college, just like she has.

Favorite aspect of being an Achievement First alumna: “I love that most of the people who graduated with me from high school are still in college, and that we can talk about life at AF Amistad High and about life as college students.”

Proudest moment: “My proudest moment is serving as NAACP president for my chapter. The work that we did to fight voter disenfranchisement was life-changing. It made me realize that I have a political side that I’d never really thought about.”