Editors Note: “Senior of the week” is a new segment at the PRESS highlighting outstanding senior students
for their accomplishments in their last year of high school. To submit your senior for consideration, email
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com.
Since it’s ‘crunch time’ for seniors graduating high school, with exams and last projects looming over their
shoulders, and just over a month until they walk that stage, we wanted to honor students that present leadership skills, outstanding academics, and resilience in the face of adversity.
The first “Senior of the Week” feature goes to 18-year-old Port Isabel High School senior, Nicole Fleming. She was born and raised in Port Isabel and went to PI-ISD schools her entire life. She is the drum major for the high school band, she’s a part of the yearbook club, and she participated in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America). Not only is she busy with extra-curricular activities, but Fleming tells me she is a straight-A student, and these A’s she’s making are dual credit classes. She will be graduating with her associate’s degree in general studies. “Making good grades has helped me learn time management and be more disciplined for anything,” she said. “You can transfer that to anything you do in life.” As a part of her discipline, she tells me she goes to sleep early and makes sure to prepare herself for success the next day. By doing this, she says being awesome in school (my words, not hers) comes easy to her, and it doesn’t feel like a lot of stress.
She said she is most proud of getting her associate’s degree upon graduation because she started the program her sophomore year and was able to catch up quickly. What has given her a bit of a challenge is having to apply for college applications and scholarships. “I feel like everything was thrown at me all at once when it comes to the senior stuff,” she said.
When she feels overwhelmed, she said her 7-year-old blue healer border collie mix cheers her up. “Every time I come back from school, his tail is always wagging,” she laughed. “It’s just nice seeing him all happy.” Her dog Marley isn’t the only one responsible for helping her during tough times, she said she’s grateful for her parents for helping her financially, getting her a car, and always believing in her.
She said her teachers also played a big role in her success. “They help me by motivating me to do good, and if I get a B or something, they tell me ‘this isn’t like you…you need to step it up,’” she admitted. “They motivate me to do the best I can.” I asked her if there was a specific teacher she wanted to give a special thanks to, and she mentioned her calculus/statistics teacher, Mr. Pesina.
Fleming plans to attend The University of Texas at Austin after graduation, with hopes of living with her older sister. She said she takes pride in being from such a tight-knit community like Port Isabel and will forever feel honored to call the city home.
Her advice to other students: “Don’t wait to the last minute to do anything. Take the chance that you have. If you’re given the opportunity, take it, because you never know when it will be gone.”
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