FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – It was a proud moment for many graduates Monday at the Save Mart Center -but for Salote Kuma, it was also bittersweet.
“He definitely would have been the loudest in the crowd, but I know wherever he is now I know he’s definitely proud of me- proud of how far I’ve come,” Kuma said.
Kuma lost her dad to COVID-19 during her first year at Fresno High School.
“It was actually my first Thursday of my freshman year of school. So then after that, I was out of school for a month and a half, I believe. And then from there was kind of just figuring out how to balance my home life and my school life,” she said.
The loss hit her hard. She was already watching her mom battle sarcoma cancer. Her father’s death coupled with her mom’s cancer, ultimately forced her to get a job and go to work, making her become the provider for the family.
Kuma is also only 16, meaning she is graduating early. She transferred to a continuation school, where she eventually got ahead, and transferred back to Fresno High School.
Now standing here today, she says she is grateful to walk at graduation and wishes she could tell her younger self that it will all work out.
“Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to figure it out. I was definitely stressing about a lot of different things in my life, not only my dad’s passing, but personal and social stuff going on at the time. You know, high school, normal stuff. But at the end of the day, everything turned out alright and I’m where I am now because of that.”
She has plans to attend Fresno City College but also wants to attend the University of Hawaii in the future. She wants to empower Pacific Islander youth through her work and career.
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