Sasha Cabral: The Journey to Yale

Hands shaking and heart racing, Sasha Cabral closed the door to her car only to end up opening a new one. A burst of confetti exploded across her phone screen, and she read the words: “Congratulations, you match to Yale!” 

Sasha Cabral, a senior, is one of the many students at Carnegie Vanguard, and nationally, that are a part of the Questbridge National College Match Program. Questbridge is a nonprofit organization designed to match primarily low-income, high achieving students, with full-ride scholarships to top liberal arts/research colleges. 

For Sasha, the match process started at the end of junior year. She was a College Prep Scholar, giving her early access to the Questbridge scholarship.

“I knew that I needed to take advantage of the summer [before senior year] as much as possible because I knew when that workload hit, I was going to have less time,” she said.

Senior year brought the anticipated heavy workload, numerous college applications, personal essays, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. 

However, the concept of time management was instilled in her from a young age. Her tía (aunt) encouraged her to use a planner and divide up how her day was going to look.

Sasha with one of her many pieces of artwork. (Photo: Sasha Cabral)

“I had gotten used to using a calendar since I was in middle school, where there's less activities… So when that work did come, I was like, Okay, I already know what I’m going to do… Because I would say time management is key in education.” she said.

Along with academics, Sasha engaged in a variety of activities and clubs throughout her four years. President of Music Appreciation Club by sophomore year, member of the National Honor Society, member of Student Council, and even the founder of Carnegie’s chapter of ‘Little Free Libraries’, where students can take and trade books.

Despite numerous responsibilities on her plate, she found one thing imperative: balance. 

“Something that my dad taught me was like sometimes you need to go to sleep… If I would come home from the school day and it's…seven o'clock or something, and I’m exhausted, I would go to sleep early that night, and then wake up super early… Give yourself that mental break, otherwise your work quality is not going to be good,” she said.

The Tell-Tale Heart little free library in the school library. (Photo: Sasha Cabral)

On the day of her acceptance, she remembers feeling especially nervous. Not only was her admissions status going to be revealed, but she also had to take two major tests that day. She recalls wanting to wait till the end of the day to check to see her Questbridge status so as to not interfere with her academic abilities. However, once she read her acceptance, she knew her hard work had paid off.

“I'm sitting in the car and I was crying because you know, all the work, like the college application process, requires a lot of dedication. So [I] can relax now, and just the happiness of getting a full ride was really amazing.”

Her future at Yale consists of a blend of her interests. She has interests in potentially studying law, finance, and visual arts. 

“Something that has traveled through me from a young age is being okay with doing multiple things…I’ve really been thinking about how I’m going to integrate my passions,” she said. 

For future seniors, Sasha leaves some words of wisdom: “Start early, make sure to hold yourself accountable with time management, and be yourself. Each college has its own personality, so you’re going to end up getting accepted to whatever is best for you,” she said.