About three months ago, Hana Taylor Schlitz turned 16.
On Friday, she became the youngest student to graduate from Texas Woman’s University, according to school records.
Thousands of students across North Texas are celebrating a milestone this spring as they graduate from area colleges and universities.
For Hana, who was adopted from Ethiopia, obtaining a degree this early in life means she’s that much closer to helping children diagnosed with tuberculosis, perhaps by helping to distribute medicine to small villages similar to the one she was born in.
Her biological mother died from the disease, which mainly affects the lungs, and threatened her own life as an infant.
“I want to be a legacy for my biological mother,” she said. “Hopefully get the treatment for other kids out there who could be just like me, future leaders.”
William Schlitz, Hana’s adoptive father, still remembers the relief he felt when the hospital discharged Hana. Seeing how far she’s come, he said Hana is one of his “biggest heroes.”
“It’s such a testament to the human spirit and her passion to want to do something positive … making sure that no other child has to go through this,” he said.
Now that she’s graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, Hana said she wants to knock off “at least one or two more degrees” before she starts working. She’s already been accepted into a public leadership master’s program at the University of North Texas at Dallas and a sociology doctorate program at Texas Woman’s.
Pursuing the ‘what ifs’
Arlo Kadane, 22, wasn’t too sure about his future when he enrolled at Southern Methodist University.
Feeling lost, he decided to explore the university’s offerings.
“I made it my mission to do everything that interests me, rather than just the classes that would get me my degree,” Kadane said.
He took religion and philosophy classes, learned Italian, formed relationships with faculty, worked as a research associate at an environmental anthropology lab and took graduate-level classes.
After six weeks studying in Florence, Italy, Kadane said he “fell in love with the design of the city, the architecture, how easy it was to walk around.”
The possibilities were endless. Over time, Kadane chose to major in international studies and picked up minors in global development, Italian and environmental anthropology.
“I was just super curious about my learning,” he said. “People don’t realize the [amount of] opportunities to do cool things.”
Kadane graduated Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. He expects to start a graduate program in landscape architecture at the University of Southern California next year.
He encourages other college students to pursue the “what ifs.”
“What if you fall in love with it?”
Whipping a passion for food into a business
While attending classes at the University of Texas at Dallas, Anisha Holla got the opportunity to freelance as a food writer for the Dallas Observer.
Holla, 21, loved to write about the local restaurants popping up across Dallas and neighboring cities. Wanting to document her food journey, she also posted photos, videos and reviews on Instagram.
She now has more than 62,600 followers on the app and her account gets about 3.5 million impressions every month, she said.
Then she noticed a trend. Holla would visit restaurants with great food and passionate owners, but they would shut down after a year because they didn’t get enough customers to stay open.
About a year ago, she started brainstorming ways to help other small restaurants avoid a similar fate.
It led to the development of Foodify, a company that connects small restaurants with local food influencers who can post about them on social media — like a “dating app,” Holla said.
“I started noticing the impact that my videos were having on local restaurants and I wanted to have an even bigger impact,” she said.
So far, her company has helped more than 120 restaurants in the past eight months.
Holla graduates Monday with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UTD. While continuing to grow her company, she plans to work as a business analyst at Capital One.
‘It is never too late’
Carmesia Washington graduated high school in 1998 and promptly enrolled at Dallas College, then known as Dallas County Community College District.
After her first year, she became pregnant with her first child. A day after giving birth, her father died.
“It just became more important to have to work,” said Washington, 43. “I had to put my college degree on the back burner.”
She also had to support her mother and her growing family, eventually raising two kids.
Washington embarked on a nearly 20-year career in technology. Her oldest child had enrolled at a university when her second child, nearing high school graduation, asked Washington, “Why are you waiting?”
Her children were grown and the COVID pandemic forced institutions to pivot to remote learning, making it easier to attend classes at Dallas College. Washington made the leap.
“She believed in me,” Washington said of her youngest daughter. “I like to think that she believed in me more than I believed I could do it myself.”
Washington earned an associate’s degree in early childhood education about two years ago. Roughly 25 years since she first enrolled at Dallas College, Washington graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the same field on Saturday.
After completing her teaching residency at Dallas ISD, she plans on staying at the district to launch her career as an educator.
“I did it for myself, but it was also for them,” Washington said of her children. “It is never too late.”
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
