I really needed a break. Months later, she enrolled in night school, quit, enrolled again and stayed. By the end of the summer term she had made up the classes she missed or flunked the previous year. In the fall, she returned to Gulf and, with a counselor's help, enrolled in a culinary program at Marchman Technical Education Center. Cassie always had enjoyed working in the kitchen with her mother, who used to make wedding cakes.
Cassie plans on becoming a chef after high school.
She still cares for her mother, and many of her teachers remain astounded that Cassie will graduate tonight near the top of her class. She was languishing. She had no support system. Cassie has been accepted to Johnson and Wales University, a Miami college specializing in tourism and culinary arts. She plans on being the first in her family to graduate from college, but first there are lingering household responsibilities to figure out.