Oakland Scholar Stays Strong Amid Pandemic and Personal Loss
by Jennifer Mistrot and Elizabeth Cook
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- During the pandemic many Students Rising Above scholars have centered themselves by staying close with their families and communities. Alianna Amaya is no exception. So when Amaya experienced a personal loss, she set a goal to seek out support close to home.
On a recent sunny morning, Amaya made a weekly run to her neighborhood pupusas stand. The Salvadoran flatbread is a favorite treat for the 17-year-old Coliseum College Prep Academy senior. But the meal also feeds Amaya's cultural connections. The native Oaklander lives with her mother's Salvadoran family. It's an arrangement made necessary because of a big loss.
Amaya's mother left her entire family several years ago, and stopped all contact with her daughter, leaving Amaya's grandmother struggling to pay the mortgage on the family's East Oakland home. Extended family moved in to help.
"There's me, my grandmother, my uncle, my cousin, his mom, and brother," explained Amaya. "[My mom] lost her job...and she kind of like fell down this weird path, and it kind of got messy for herself and that kind of like made like a snowball effect for the rest of us."
The pandemic was another blow for Amaya and her family, as housing costs and food access stretched their resources.
"I know my grandma one time wanted to stop paying for the internet because of how expensive it was," said Amaya. "And I was like 'No Grams, I need it for school!'"
Her grandmother kept the family's internet, as school became Amaya's safe space and education, her top priority. At CCPA she tackled college prep classes and landed several internships, including one focused on Climate Change and its effect on low-income communities like East Oakland, where Amaya's learning to honor all parts of herself, including her father's African American heritage.
LEARN MORE: Students Rising Above
"I'm Black and I'm Hispanic," said Amaya. "I was the only one in my grade at CCPA who was biracial, who was Black and Hispanic. You just have to grow and understand that society makes these norms and society makes these groups and that you need to make your definition of what is Black and what is Hispanic, and that these two races, cultures and identities can co-exist with-in each other"
Another important part of Amaya's journey has been accepting her mother's absence. This fall she'll head back East to college at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where she's receiving a full scholarship thanks to Students Rising Above.
She also plans on becoming a college professor so she can help other young adults learn self-expression and critical thinking skills, so graduate school is in her future.
But it's her mother- who always encouraged her daughter's education goals- that Amaya holds in her heart.
"She is strong, and she's confident," said Amaya of her mom. "I want her to know that she is always loved and that there is no hate on my side."
