Despite all odds and expectations, a girl who was born in a prison has managed to gain admission to the famous Harvard University.

Sky Castner, 18, is said to have been born in the Galveston County Jail.

Since the day Sky’s father picked her up from the jail to raise her as a single parent, her mother, who was incarcerated when she gave birth, has had no significant role in Sky’s life.

Despite the frequent relocations Sky and her father experienced during her youth, the aspirational young woman never wavered in her determination to attend Harvard. Sky, who was born in a prison 18 years ago, received third place in her class at Conroe High School last week, allowing her to attend probably the most prestigious college in the world to study law.

As per the Courier, Sky started her application letter to Harvard with the sentence: “I was born in prison.”

According to sources cited by The Houston Chronicle, Sky was a “voracious” reader in elementary school and a student who excelled academically even as a young child. However, the Reaves Elementary faculty thought that in order for her to fulfill her full potential, she needed some additional mentoring.

To assist, Mona Hamby arrived with CISD’s Project Mentor. She spoke with the Sky Courier.: “I was given a paper about her. Her hero was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was tacos from Dairy Queen and she loved to read. I thought this sounds like a bright little girl. I still have that paper today.”

It has been said that Mona and Sky became close because they didn’t actually know one other’s mothers.

Mona added: “She told me ‘I’ve been to jail’. I said ‘No, that can’t be right’, I knew that I can’t just go eat lunch with this kid once a week, she needed more.”

Sky’s mentor gave her advice on how to choose her first set of glasses, have her first haircut at a salon, and improve how much she enjoyed her free time.

“It was a very different environment than I grew up in and that’s not a bad thing,” Sky explained. “Everything that Mona taught me was very valuable in the same way that everything that I went through before Mona was very valuable.”

Sky’s interest in attending Harvard only grew after seeing the campus with Mona and her husband in 2022. She asked Boston University’s Professor James Wallace for advice on her application.

“He helped me to tell my story in the best way possible,” Sky told the Courier.

Wow! What a motivating tale. I don’t know about you, but I’m incredibly happy for Sky. Please let us know if you agree that Sky did a great job of defying the odds.

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