FPD graduate makes long trek to finish school

By land, Aurora Perez is almost 2,600 miles from where she began her path to graduation at First Presbyterian Day School.

Born in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, she lived with her mother for the first six years of her life. The island, located off the coast of Cancun, is part tourist attraction and part impoverished native community.

“It was just like a little shack with cardboard roofing,” Perez recalled of her first childhood home.

When Perez was 6, her mother died, which threw her into an orphanage for a short time. She ended up living with an aunt in Massachusetts for a while, then moved in with her stepgrandmother nearby.

At the age of 12, Perez moved to Macon with her stepgrandmother, Alice Gordon, and another relative and attended Howard Middle School for two years.

“Just through miraculous events, we heard from someone that FPD had a scholarship,” she said.

Perez got the Georgia Goal Scholarship, meaning that most of her time at FPD has been completely paid for. While a student at the school, Perez has served as a student ambassador and became a member of the National Honors Society as well as being named captain of the cross country team as a junior. She also won the National Spanish Award Bronze Medal as a junior.

An honor graduate, Perez has a 4.0 GPA but almost missed that mark when she had a B in Advanced Placement Government after the first semester of her senior year.

“I was really excited,” she said of pulling that grade up.

FPD college counselor Brad Thompson said he still has trouble really wrapping his mind around the senior’s full story.

“It’s hard to even put into words because a lot of our students don’t have these stories — a lot of people out there don’t have these stories,” he said.

But it doesn’t end there. In January, Perez turned 19, and staying with Gordon was no longer an option. For about a month, Perez stayed with various friends until another FPD family, the Wheelers, offered her a place to stay.

“So many people helped me out and gave me a chance to shine, I guess you could say,” she said.

Now, Perez plans to attend Georgia College and perhaps double major in English and Spanish. From there, she hopes to get a law degree and help the Spanish-speaking community through the legal system.

“She has never let up. She’s a pretty amazing kid,” Thompson said. “We’re blessed to have been able to work with her and get to know her.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 7:24 PM with the headline "FPD graduate makes long trek to finish school."