Felicia Reyes
Felicia Reyes graduated from Andover High School in 2013 and USC in 2017. At AHS, she fondly remembers her guidance counselor, Kim Bergey. Likewise, Ms. Bergey proudly remembers Felicia as "courageous, intelligent, and extremely resilient.” For People Magazine in 2017, Kim Bergey stated, "Felicia’s life has been an incredible journey. An ABC (A Better Chance) scholar, she flew across the country from California as a freshman and hit the ground running at AHS. Not only did she have to deal with leaving her family and life in California, but she found herself having to quickly adapt to the culture of Andover and competitive classrooms of AHS," Bergey continued to say Felicia was outgoing and talented, and quickly made friends and stepped out of her comfort zone. She joined a local crew team during freshman and sophomore years. In addition, "Felicia loved volunteering as a tutor at Esperanza Academy in Lawrence, and had a very meaningful experience serving as a Freshman Orientation leader for incoming ABC freshmen across the country at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania. At AHS, she consistently challenged herself in such courses as AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, Physics and Calculus. She graduated from AHS academically prepared for the rigor of USC. I am so proud of Felicia’s unwavering determination, even during the most difficult times, to achieve her goals and make a positive difference in the world."
In a more recent conversation with Felicia, she attributes her success to her great support system; a strong family (she is the 3rd oldest of 8 children), caring friends and her host parents. For Felicia, the ABC program was a transformative and pivotal experience for her. She very much appreciated how the ABC board, and other community members reached out to her with heartfelt support and guidance each step of the way, particularly Mary Pritchard, Audra Reilly—the resident director for most of Felicia’s time in ABC, and her host parents—the Voglers.
Law school is on the horizon in September, 2021 for this ABC and USC graduate. The many months working from home and being isolated during Covid were consumed with studying for the LSAT and applying to 13 Law schools. During this time, she also worked full time from the LA apartment she shares with her ABC friend, Deanna Starr. Felicia currently works for the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) on their reproductive justice campaign, an experience that has affirmed Felicia’s decision to pursue a law degree—like the attorneys at NCYL, she aspires to address structural barriers for system-impacted youth. Law school will not only give Felicia the education needed for her next step; it will also help her narrow her future focus. Felicia has chosen to study at Columbia Law School starting this fall where she will join a remarkable community of aspiring lawyers. Stay tuned for the next chapter in the life of this courageous, intelligent, and extremely resilient young woman.
