Lexington senior caring for sick father could have graduated early. She chose to stay
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Outstanding 2021 Midlands Graduates
This past year has been a challenging one for most — especially our high school seniors. They shifted to virtual learning and missed out on some the best memories and traditions from high school. The State is highlighting a series of 2021 Midlands grads who have beat the biggest odds, set a high bar for serving and achieving and inspire us to make no excuses in the pursuit of our highest potential. Meet them here.
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Mya Arroyo had a lot going against her as she started her senior year of high school.
On top of class work from Lexington High School, she shouldered other responsibilities most teenagers don’t have to face: Arroyo is the primary caretaker for her seriously ill father, and she works two jobs to help support her family.
“She’s demonstrated a lot of resilience and perseverance this year,” said Lexington High Principal Ryan Pool, crediting Arroyo’s academic success to “a combination of outreach and being proactive on her part. ... I think she once participated in class while she was running a drive-thru.”
And if there was any doubt about Arroyo’s undeniable work ethic, she even earned enough credits to graduate high school early and decided to stay on anyway.
Why? Instead of leaving school, Arroyo wanted to stick with her Spanish class so she could better communicate with her father’s family in Puerto Rico. She’s also taking a finance class to better manage the family’s money.
Caring for her father has been a priority for Arroyo during her final years in high school. She relocated from Gaston to Lexington in her junior year to care for her father, who has been incapacitated by multiple strokes in recent years and got out of his latest hospital stay just weeks before his daughter’s graduation. Her older sister and half-brother are also nearby to help with their dad’s needs, but Arroyo this year has been the only full-time carer living with her dad.
In the meantime, she’s worked shifts at Cook Out and Taco Bell to help pay the bills. It worked out so well she was even able to buy her first car at the end of last year.
“My jobs have been willing to work with my scheduling, so I can still go to school,” Arroyo said.
After graduation, she’ll stay close so she can keep up with her father, but she and some friends are already planning to get an apartment in Cayce while she attends Midlands Technical College. She hopes to transfer later to a four-year school and ultimately start a photography business.
“Photography is my passion,” she said. “And I want to own my own business and travel to photograph different things.”
Arroyo already feels like her situation has given her a solid foundation in managing her finances, but she hopes college will teach her how to take that skill and turn it into running her own business.
Pool thinks she’s already beat the odds to make it to graduation.
“The odds were against her, and the fact that she did it, we put in the effort, but she made it happen,” Pool said. “We’re so proud of her.”
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