December 2024
By Diana Villanueva, Assistant Editor
KAC has a strong selection of leaders who represent the future of our world. With many adversities against her, she continues to pursue her future interests while maintaining her academics up to date and extracurriculars. Ms. Segura has become an integral part of many clubs and organizations that value her contribution to their success. With a strong work ethic, determination, and drive to be a strong leader; she perseveres to be able to be a representative for first generation Hispanic Women in the business industry.
Fatima has been a part of KIPP since elementary school, she attended KIPP Connections elementary, now called KIPP Connect. She went on to KIPP Arts & Letters, and then entered KAC in the fall of 2022 as a freshman.
As soon as the school year commenced, Fatima was dedicated to keeping her high GPA after receiving advice from peers and friends that she should take freshman year seriously. As she went into freshman year, she decided to take a business course. Fatima fell in love with business and her father inspired her to pursue a career in business as he is the manager of a business himself, “La Michoacana”.
Throughout her Sophomore year, she started thinking about her future and what she would want to pursue and HOW she would achieve her goal. An opportunity presented itself at the end of her sophomore year to become a part of the robotics program at KAC. According to the manager of Archytas, Brandon Vazquez, “ Her way of stepping up to leadership, whenever we were on Archytas last year, when Fatima joined us, she kind of gave me more of an example of what leadership is and how work should get done more efficiently. Even though she was new, she was getting work done in a completely new environment, she really stepped up for a newbie and inspired me to become a better leader.”
Entering junior year was stressful for her because she was under a lot of pressure to perform and of course; academics. Without the support of her family and friends, she said she wouldn’t have even attempted to try to juggle all her extracurriculars and school. During an interview, I asked her friend Maria Pardo “ How has Fatima handled her leadership roles?” As soon as I asked, she did not hesitate for a single second to praise her for all the hard work she’s done. “ – She’s grown a lot, herself as a leader, she’s very professional with her work and she just knows what she’s doing all the time, even if she feels like she isn’t. If it weren’t for Fatima and Nathalia, I wouldn’t be as academically driven… I want to be like her, her work ethic is incredible, she’s a very kind and respectful person. She’s very admirable, and gives off girl boss energy whenever she’s in the zone.”
Another close friend of Fatima, Nathalia Torres, was asked “How has Fatima made an impact on you?” She waited a few moments before answering then said, “To never give up on what I want to achieve. She’s the leader of all these clubs and never gives up on what she wants. She always gives it her all, that has really had a huge impact on me. She does everything with a purpose and with such dedication that it inspires me to step up my game too.”
When interviewed, her robotics coach; Coach Martin said, “Fatima is amazing, she goes above and beyond and WILL find a way to do more than you ask of her. If she’s passionate about something, it makes you feel strongly about the subject as well.”
For my final interview, I wanted to ask Fatima herself how her experience has been so far. Her responses were nothing short of insightful into the perspective of leaders everywhere. “It’s really confusing since there’s not a lot of information given for people who have just started a chapter. There’s a lot of pressure since I’m president. I feel like I’m expected to know what to do even if I don’t.” She finds comfort in her family and friends whenever she feels overwhelmed, according to her, “literally my uber” and her friends let her vent whenever needed, as well as offer a different perspective to the challenges she faces.
Fatima tries to handle all her extracurriculars with grace and precision. She is a part of Rho Kappa, Math National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America, KAC robotics, and runs her own small crochet business outside of school. Despite the pressure from school and the looming uncertainty of future plans, she continues to be a strong student leader and an inspiration to others.
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