An open mind opens doors: LEAD Class of 2023 graduate reflects on her unexpected journey to a budding nursing career

Keep an open mind.

This phrase rings true for class of 2023 graduate Treasure Harper who never initially saw nursing as the career path she’d pursue. While she always had the urge to help others, she always imagined a career in either therapy, social work or cosmetology. But she never could have imagined the obstacle that would shift her vision of the future, as well as her present, so drastically. Unfortunately for her, it came in the form of a global pandemic.

At her former school, Treasure adopted a “my way or the highway” mentality. If you told her to stand up, she’d sit down. If you told her to look over here, she’d look over there. But although Treasure described her former self as “hard-headed,” she was excelling academically and had a “pretty decent” educational experience before the pandemic. That all changed with the social, mental and emotional ramifications of quarantine—isolating her from an environment she enjoyed engaging in and leading her into a deep depression.

“COVID really made it harder for me because we were in quarantine. I had to do school online,” said Treasure. “We barely could go out and if you did go out, there was a curfew. So I really never got to engage with people. I got put in therapy, because my parents saw that something was going on with their child, and they just wanted to make sure I was fine. And then as I did my therapy sessions, my therapists finally diagnosed me with depression.”

During this time, she lost hold of her academics, especially math, and attempted to remedy her situation through cheating—a method she described as “the easy way out.” Despite this, her grades still never reached above a C in some classes and a D in others. And while she had the support of her parents for her mental health challenges, understaffing and the lack of resources at her school made it more difficult for her to be and feel seen.

“There were over 500 kids in one school and there were only two counselors. I sat with my counselor one time my entire year,” she said. “I didn't even know who she was until I got called to her and she explained - and then I never saw her again. Sometimes I felt bad for counselors because they tried their best, but it's so many students. So she wouldn't ever know if there was something wrong, because we barely knew each other's names.”

While sinking deeper into a chasm of academic dishonesty and a steady mental health decline, Treasure knew that in order to become the person she aspired to be, there needed to be a shift. Treasure looked inward and explored the possibility of pursuing pathways outside of her peripheral vision, which eventually led her to the doors of LEAD Charter School.

Treasure heard about LEAD, an initiative of Opportunity Youth Network (OYN), by word of mouth from current students and decided to do some independent research. She was initially hesitant about her soon-to-be alma mater as she was still holding on to older habits of judging a book by its cover, and for Treasure, the cover looked too good to be true.

“Something just caught my eye with the medical field,” Treasure said. “So when I did my research about the Allied Health class, and I had friends that also went here and took the Allied Health class, it was just like, ding ding, ding. There we go. Let's see what it's about. Is it worth it, to transfer…it was like a big change for me.”

Despite her initial reluctance when she first walked through LEAD’s doors, the support she received at LEAD was exactly what she needed. She accredited her improvement in academics and overall growth to the teachers and staff at LEAD. Treasure specifically acknowledged her appreciation for the academic support she received from a math teacher in a subject she formerly struggled with and a class she wasn’t initially confident she would pass.

“Treasure’s story is a perfect example of when hard work meets opportunity,” said Robert Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OYN. “Her willingness to trust the process and expand her vision of the future has set her on the path to success. We are extremely proud of her continued transformation.”

The Treasure that entered Mental Toughness, a program that introduces and prepares incoming students to the start of the school year, isn’t the same Treasure that just walked across the graduation stage—a thought that makes her smile.

“Something I laugh about now is how I was in August during Mental Toughness to how I am now,” said Treasure. “Because when they hit me with the ‘We [are] one, we're a community,’ I was like, who? I'm my own person. I never wanted to do group things. I never wanted to be engaged with people because I was like I came here for one reason, one reason only. I don't want to make friends. But I found myself making a family here. Forget friends. I have my own second family here.”

Treasure is on track to receive four certifications in nursing—Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), phlebotomy, EKG and CPR training—and is eager to start her journey to become a medical assistant. But her first stop is college and although she never could’ve imagined where she’d be and the path she’d currently be on, Treasure is on her way to the next chapter - and walking through new doors with an open mind.