DEARBORN — Each year, countless high school students dream of earning the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school.

Samantha Yassine

But very few of them get the chance to do so as quickly as Samantha Yassine of Fordson High School.
The 17-year-old junior will depart for Harvard’s summer school program on June 21st and take two college level classes in Literature and Neurobiology.

Yassine, who carries a 4.15 GPA while taking all AP classes at Fordson, received a $5,000 scholarship to take the classes, which will earn her eight college credits before she even graduates from high school. She talked about the motivation behind her academic pursuits and work ethic.

“I get it from my parents, Ana and Ahmad. Every person in my life has influenced me but my parents have always been devoted people,” she said.

“They put a lot of time into their work and read quite a bit and that always encouraged me to take leadership positions and to do what is right and help others,” she said.

Yassine, whose mother is Salvadorian and father is Lebanese, wants to double major in Neurobiology and Literature. She believes that reading and writing as much as possible in high-level Literature classes can only help in her understanding of her field, medicine, and life in general.

Her racial identity has also helped shaped her passion for learning.

“Having parents of two different races has helped me become a better and more well rounded person,” she said.

“Just knowing about those two different cultures made me want to educate myself on the world and how being of different races impacts people.”

She credits the Generation of Promise program in southeast Michigan, which works with local high schools to sponsor diversity-themed field trips and learning sessions, for helping her explore her cultural identity. Yassine is also class president at the Dearborn Center for Math, Science, and Technology, a secondary education center where she spends about her day during the weekdays among many other extracurricular activities, all of which she feels have prepared her well for the Ivy League experience.

Yassine knows the challenge of taking college classes this summer will be strong but she looks at it as a great opportunity to build contacts for a chance to be accepted in the future.

“The program doesn’t guarantee acceptance but it certainly doesn’t hurt,” she said. “It will help me to establish good relationships with professors while learning how to take tests and write essays to prepare for the application process itself.”

If Yassine doesn’t make it to the Ivy League, she still has her sights set high with the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and the University of Chicago both high on her list.

Her teachers believe she will be successful both this summer and wherever she goes in the future.

“Samantha will transition well into the neurobiology class,” said Jeff Whittaker, her research and physics teacher at DCMST. “Her understanding of science processes, methods, and physics principles is outstanding. I am very proud of her.”

Her AP English teacher at Fordson, Amira Kassem, agreed.

“She has a vivacious spirit, a sincere approach, an inquisitive mind, a beautiful soul, and a desire to effect change wherever there is need for it,” she said.

Yassine believes her high school has prepared her well for the next level.

“Some of the best teachers I’ve ever had are at Fordson,” she said. “It’s definitely an extraordinary school.”