Andrea, Christine, and Catherine Domiter – IDEA Donna
THE DOMITER SISTERS, proud IDEA Donna Titans, were born in the Philippines. When they were young, their parents moved the family to the United States, and in 6th grade, they joined IDEA Donna, our flagship school. They are bright, hard-working kids because their parents instilled in them the importance of education at a young age.
One of the Domiter sisters, Christine, noted, “As kids, we didn’t have the means to go on college field lessons. At IDEA, our teachers actually came together to pay for us to go on our first field lesson to tour colleges in California. From this experience, we were inspired to look into colleges out of state.”
The Domiter sisters have always been grateful for the support of their IDEA Team & Family, especially in the beginning of their senior year. At this time, their dad was hospitalized after being in a car accident while coming back from dropping their older sister off at college.
“Our world literally fell apart,” said Catherine, twin sister of Christine. “Without any family here in Texas and our mom having to rush to our father’s side, we were left alone.”
During this time, the Domiter sisters struggled both academically and emotionally. They were completing college apps through QuestBridge and needed to finish assignments for the International Baccalaureate program. But they soon found out they were not as alone as they thought.
“Once again, our IDEA family came together to console us,” said Andrea, the third sister, who was also a senior at the same time, having skipped a grade at IDEA Donna. “From our counselors, to teachers, to friends, we felt nothing but unconditional love and support. Our teachers gave us extensions on all our assignments and our counselors were there for us to talk to.”
After their dad was discharged from the hospital, they were able to catch up on their assignments and focus once again on college. However, because of the hospital bills, Christine, Catherine, and Andrea were not financially capable of paying for the costs that came with applications. Plus, their mom was the only one working at the time.
“It was because of IDEA that we were able to send our applications and test scores to more than 50 schools,” said Catherine. “We received the distinction of being QuestBridge Finalists.” According to Questbridge, in 2017, out of 15,606 applications, 5,759 students were selected as National College Match Finalists.
Andrea was matched with the University of Chicago where she will be attending with a full-ride scholarship in the fall. Catherine was accepted to Emory University with a full-ride as well. And finally, Christine was accepted to Macalester College with a full-ride scholarship, too!
“We know that we would not have been able to accomplish any of this without the unwavering support of our IDEA family,” said Andrea.
It looks like all the hard work has finally paid off for the Domiter sisters. Although they will be taking separate paths, and they’re going to miss each other, they always have a second home to come back to: IDEA Donna.
This blog is a part of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ month long celebration of #CharterGrads.
