ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Collegiate High School is a dual-enrollment high school where students pursue both their high school diploma and an associate’s degree at the same time.
Dominick dos Santos is part of their first graduating class.
“I’m very, very thankful I found this school,” said dos Santos.
WATCH: St. Petersburg Collegiate High School senior class president wants to inspire
He first heard about this school through a social worker when he was in the middle of getting his GED because he, his mom, and four siblings were homeless at the time.
“I knew that I needed to help my family and I needed to get started on life… it was time to be an adult,” said dos Santos.
He wanted to help his family get to a better place. He was encouraged to consider St. Pete Collegiate High School, where he could earn his associate’s degree for free.
“It really is all God. When I was in the shelter, definitely I was, like, praying because I knew that He needed to use me, and that’s when it was almost like providential that I was able to find the school,” said dos Santos.
Once at the school, he quickly excelled.
That’s something Academic Program Director, Remus Bulmer, saw firsthand.
“He was a leader on our campus. He started multiple clubs, mentored younger students on our campus,” said Bulmer.
Even though dos Santos was homeless for a while, he didn’t let that stop him.
He took multiple buses and a trolley to get to and from school.
“It’s good to be hard working. It’s good to actually try and like get some stuff done, and there’s like rewards to that, and there’s progress you can make, and things you can achieve, and I think that’s really beautiful,” said Bulmer.
The challenges didn't stop there. His mom was recently diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.
“It’s not been easy, you know?” said dos Santos.
He hasn’t let that slow him down either, wanting to make his family proud.
“I love my mom and my family, it’s like the home team, you know. We’re always rooting for each other,” said dos Santos.
He’s relied on his faith to get through, something he learned from his mom.
“The idea that if you wish to be strong, then you’ll be tested with weakness,” said dos Santos.
He’s managed to keep such a positive attitude through it all.
Dos Santos graduated a few days ago and was the senior class president.
He earned his high school diploma and two associate’s degrees.
He wants to further his education, major in education technology, and hopes to become an entrepreneur to make technology and software more accessible for kids in need.
“I was actually really inspired by the school itself, kind of the system that was set up to help kids. I feel like there’s lots of kids out there, maybe with similar situations, where if they just had a sort of mechanism where they could plug into it, then they could really go far,” said dos Santos.
During his time at school, he’s been a source of encouragement to others, bonding with students and staff like Bulmer.
“I feel like a proud dad watching him just kind of blossom in the program. But I’m really inspired by all that he’s accomplished and inspired by his story. Inspired by the positivity that he continues to just demonstrate despite what he’s facing and what he’s overcoming,” said Bulmer.
Dos Santos is on a mission to inspire kids not to let their circumstances limit them.
“If you want to be different, then you have to be different… You can’t be afraid to spread out and you can’t be afraid to invest your time in things that are new,” he said.
“Every time I see Dominick, I just remind him that I want to see him take over the world. And we say that jokingly, but he’s definitely got the power and the drive to do that,” said Bulmer.
This is just the beginning.
