DSST admits students through a weighted lottery to guarantee a diverse student body. Enrollment is as high as 80 percent students of color at some campuses, with an equal balance of young men and women.

It’s a rigorous academic program, but that doesn’t change the fact that the students are still just kids. Between classes or heading to lunch, they linger to talk with friends, they laugh and joke, they sneak away to use their phones, they study.

You see Afros, long hair, short hair, multi-colored hair. Some wear hijabs, others ballcaps. They’re kids. College-bound kids who, for the time being, have found their happy place.

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