Teen Grad's Family Was 'Crying a Lot' After She Got Into Harvard (Exclusive)

Yasmim Barros only knew how to say “mom” and “thank you” when she moved to the U.S. at age 11, some seven years ago.

But in June, she graduated from East Side High School in Newark, N.J., as her class president, a track star — and was offered a full scholarship to attend Harvard University.

“I’m making my family proud,” says Barros, 18. “My family's really happy that their hard work has paid off. I was raised by a village, quite literally.”

Barros was born in northern Brazil. Her mother, Glaucia Barros Dos Santos, first moved to America when Barrow was only 2, so her grandparents raised her and her older brother, Kaua.

“They’re really good people,” she says. “I loved growing up with my cousins.”

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