STUDENT PROFILE Aalina and Aaliah Tejada Lara ’22

Seniors and twin sisters, Aalina and Aaliah Lara joined St. Mary’s back in 2018 with goals of being part of a community. Not only did they find it, but they also found their callings in giving back to it. With dreams of running her own business one day, Aaliah is heavily inspired by the entrepreneurship within her own family and the St. Mary’s community. In Baní, a city in the Dominican Republic, Aaliah’s grandfather owns a bakery called Guazupan. “He provides school lunches for the poorer kids in the community as well as sponsors the basketball teams. He’s put the money he makes with his business towards helping the city and has made such an influence creating a tighter community and I’d like to have the same kind of impact on people and help as he has.” Influenced by her grandfather, Aaliah searched for her own community and found it at St. Mary’s. She became a member of Rachel’s Challenge during her Freshman year. The group meets every Tuesday before school and it's mission is to create a chain reaction of kindness and compassion in St. Mary’s and the greater community. Looking back on a time when she and her friends volunteered to serve Thanksgiving dinner to those in need, Aaliah said, ”Rachel’s Challenge has taught me the importance of community service and influenced the love I have for helping and serving others all the while allowing me to see into the business industry.” As she continued her journey with Rachel’s challenge, Aaliah’s experience in a business class last year confirmed that business would be her ideal course of study. She hopes to use her love for community and future business degree to open a restaurant of her own someday. Aalina's experience at St. Mary’s, while similar to her sister Aaliah’s, has had a very different outcome. Aalina also found her passion within St. Mary’s through her combination of offered classes and extracurricular activities. Throughout high school, Aalina has immersed herself in the political world through her class selection. She says,“I’ve been able to take honors level classes which better prepared me for the higher level classes that I take now. Although there is a lot of emphasis on the STEM opportunities at St. Mary’s, I am also able to cultivate and expand my knowledge on topics related to my prospective career path in the new learning environment.” Aalina enrolled in numerous AP classes such as AP Literature, AP U.S. History, and AP Government, but she found her true love for court in the extracurricular club, Mock Trial, that caught Aalina’s eye right away. “Law is something that has always interested me, especially since I have been here at St Mary’s. The Mock Trial team exposed me to court etiquette, and broadened my knowledge on the logistics and procedures of the court.” Aalina intends to declare Pre-Law in college, major in political science, and pursue a career in family law. Aalina will be applying to various schools in Massachusetts such as Boston College, Clark University and the College of the Holy Cross.