John Marshall High School graduate, Raeza Hoover is ready to move on to her college career. She has a strong focus on her education because she knows it will move her up in life. The saying “education is the key to success” is what Hoover lives by.
While growing up, Hoover said she experienced situations that made her want to strive to do better in her life as she got older. As a teen, she experienced homelessness. This period in her life showed her that she wanted to do better now and for her future.
“I’ve always known financial setbacks,” Hoover said. “I don’t want my (future) kids to see me struggle like that.”
Though she works part-time as a cashier at Wendy’s while in school, Hoover says though the money and paycheck are motivation, excelling in school is what will take her far.
“I want to go to college because I am far too intelligent to be uttering, ‘May I take your order?’ for the rest of my life,” Hoover wrote in her personal essay. “I have worked too hard, too long to have fast food cashier as a career. I want to go college because I am hardworking and believe in nothing less than the best.”
As a high school student, Hoover graduated from John Marshall High School with an overall 3.25 GPA. During her senior year she also took a dual enrollment class, where she got a sense of how college classes work, and advance placement classes.
While in school Hoover was a member of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), Peer Helpers, Sisters Led by Christ, where she held the position of Sergeant at Arms, and the Justice Droids Robotics team, where she served as Co-Captain.
Hoover was asked by her physics teacher personally to join the team. After being in her class, she noticed Hoover had the skills and was also a hard worker.
“While the course was difficult at first, Rae persevered and exemplified a tenacious spirit towards academic success,” Janeen Perry-Campbell, physics teacher and robotics leader, wrote in a recommendation letter. “Exhibiting strong willpower, a natural sense of inquiry, and thirst for success, she exceeded to the top in the class.”
Hoover also participated in several community service opportunities while in school. Holding the position of Sergeant at Arms in the group Sisters Led by Christ, a mentoring and community service group, she is second in command after the group leader. While serving in this capacity, Hoover did a combination of different community service outreach programs.
“It’s always nice to help people who need help. I understand what it’s like to be in a hard situation and nobody would really talk to me, and no one asked me whether I was ok, did I need anything. So I always wanted to be a helping hand for somebody else that I didn’t have,” Hoover said.
In the fall, she will be attending Norfolk State University and majoring in psychology. As a person who wants and is willing to help people in need, Hoover wants to become a teen counselor in the future. She says counselors that she’s had in the past have helped her during hard times.
