medical student loans

kayla: i guess when i think about my life,there’s before the fire and after the fire… we lost practically everything… pictures…i think that’s the hardest part… mom: when kayla was about eight years old,uh, her father and i went through a divorce; we had moved in with my parents and abouttwo weeks later, there was a huge fire… kayla: it was in the middle of the night andmy sister and i – we were sleeping in my nana and my poppa’s bed… [pause...]…the fire was actually right by our heads; the wall was really warm… my mom came runningin and woke us up and we went and we sat in the car. we then (?) – we watched it happen.i used dance to help me get through all of that and kind of finding that little placeto go really helped me… i’ve been dancing

since i was two years old… kayla: …and it’s been a major part ofmy life. i do jazz, tap, ballet, point, contemporary, hip hop…jacqueline: i think it helped get her through some really, really tough times… dance isher therapy – this is her safe place. she’s always here, always willing to work cuz sheknows that in a second, you – she might not be able to experience this…kayla: through dance, it forced me to be mature at a young age and to deal with a lot of adultissues. i don’t like putting anything but my best effort into everything. i just remindmyself that i’m going to learn something through doing it. in my freshman year, i hadtore the labrum in my hip. it was the first

time i ever went to a physical therapist.i just saw all these people there who really wanted to help me. they coached me throughall that and… kayla: …they wanted to get me back thereas soon as possible. i realized that maybe that’s something i wanna do; maybe i wannago into physical therapy and be able to help people get back to what they love doing, theirpassions. i’m taking ap biology this year to see how all the muscles and the ligamentsand everything work together to help someone go into a first position or an arabesque.it just kind of connected my dancing to my interest in science. going to school betweensix and eight years is the amount of money [laughter...] it would cost; that’s onefactor that’s really stuck in my mind.

kate: i had gotten an email from sallie maeasking for a student that had gone through some hardships in their life or stood outto me academically and immediately kayla came to mind. she has taken the most rigorous collegeclasses that we offer… kate: …and she’s one of the top five inher class of two hundred and seventy-eight students. i submitted the proposal throughan email thinking with a nationwide search i’ll – i’ll probably never hear back…kayla: then, all of a sudden, she got this call from sallie mae. she realized that iwas one of the finalists and i was so excited – [laughter...] – i mean, i hugged myguidance counselor – [laughter...] – i hugged my mom, i was just so grateful forthis opportunity. this is such a wonderful

type of scholarship that would hopefully helpme. marcus: a scholarship like this one wouldcap off not just all the hard work that she’s done but these expectations she’s placedon herself in a way that, for the rest of her life i think would – would influenceher. as long as she’s helping people, i think she’ll do something for the worldthat’s important. kate: it’s important for someone like kaylato go to college cuz she’s gonna make a difference in someone’s life.female1: she just sees that no matter what life throws at you, you know, you can alwaysfind the positive and you can always move forward.nicole: when her family lost…

nicole: …the house to the fire, the nextday she had competition, we had to tell the judges that this little girl’s gonna bedancing and you’ll see there’s [sic] holes in her costume. she walked out on that stagewith the biggest smile and was just so grateful to be there and be on that stage with a costumeon. female 1: it kinda sums up how she is: nomatter what you throw at her, she’s gonna just move ahead with a smile as always…female 2: as i’m reading her college essay, she captures the best what the adversity inher life has done for her; she says, ”i look at those years as strengthening and maturingand readying me for the years of adulthood ahead of me, teaching me how to remain optimisticin times of difficulty, preparing me for future

endeavors…”female 3: kayla’s somebody that constantly looks for the positive instead of focusingon the negative. she’s just an amazing kid. i can’t wait to hear the rest of her story…