FORT WORTH, Texas — Sometimes, your success is not just your own. The long hours of hard work you put in mixed in with some grit can sometimes benefit those around you. too. 

To get something you’ve never had, you will have to do something you’ve never done. 

“I’m going to be something,” said Lynn Poland, a senior at Dunbar High School in Fort Worth. 

Poland is months away from leaving Dunbar to become the first person in her family to go to college. An almost perfect GPA of 3.8 is carrying her to some never-before-seen opportunities. 

“That’s the key to a better life, and I’ve just always believed that,” Poland added. 

Poland doesn’t take sole credit for her high-achieving status. She believes her foundation to being great starts with her single mother, who had a vision and never abandoned the power of prayer. 

“She didn’t have the best upbringing and initially, she didn’t think that college or even school was for her. Her goal was to make it out of whatever bad situation she was in, and she did make sure that her kids didn’t have to go through that. Which is why I am able to stand here today,” Poland explained. 

Everything Poland’s mom has manifested is coming to pass. With Poland’s GPA being higher than 3.0, she is getting automatic admission into Paul Quinn College. The story doesn’t end here. For the first time, the historically Black school is letting Poland and other students with at least a 3.0 GPA, within Fort Worth ISD, bring along two family members wanting to also go to college. 

“She was excited. She started crying. She is one of those really emotional parents and she’s proud of me and my siblings for everything that we’ve accomplished. Everything we do, she stands by. So to know that she gets a chance when she’s been counted out of so many things, it gives her a sense of relief too, I think,” Poland said. 

The unconventional offer from the college comes after the president at Paul Quinn had a conversation with the principal at Dunbar High about the lack of support many first-generation college students have, which often leads to dropouts.

“I think it just shines a great light and can actually change the dynamic of how higher education is even looked at or perceived,” said Justin Edwards, the principal at Dunbar. 

Poland wants to get her degree in health care administration. Before she decides on where she ends up, she wants to tour a few more colleges. If this offer from Paul Quinn foreshadows the type of opportunities that lie ahead, she is sure to be more than great.