Student of the Week is a popular recognition program started 16 years ago on CHANNEL 5 NEWS.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS asks each of the Valley's high schools to nominate a senior as their high school's Student of the Week. Using criteria of academic excellence, extracurricular activity, and community involvement, each school's principal submits one student.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS chooses 10 students from across the Valley who will be recognized as Student of the Week.
The feature airs on KRGV-TV's top-rated CHANNEL 5 NEWS This Morning. The feature begins in September and lasts 10 weeks.
Each Wednesday morning between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., CHANNEL 5 NEWS will air a report on the Student of the Week. The report will feature an interview with the student, his/her favorite teacher, and his/her career aspirations. This feature will also air in the noon news.
On June 19, 1992, I was born as Kimberly Orozco. The first five years of my childhood I was raised in Misson, Texas with my brother and sister. When I began elementary school, my family moved to McAllen, Texas to be closer to my mother’s job.
In my eyes we were the perfect family. We lived in a nice neighborhood with good schools just a few blocks away. Everything was perfect until the summer going into my ninth grade. My parents decided to separate and I became my mother’s responsibility. My brother was living in Mission and my sister was beginning college at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. What my mother was earning was just enough for the both of us. Soon everything had fallen into place and everything was going smoothly until the start of 2008.
I became very ill at the end of January and had to be hospitalized for high fever. The doctors discovered I had Sepsis, a blood infection that led to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. It was required that I had a mechanical respirator and supplemental oxygen. My lungs and other organs, like my kidneys, were slowly starting to die. The doctors didn’t expect for me to survive and the pain I was going through was intensely painful. They decided to put me in a deep sleep that same night I went in. I was in the intensive care unit for the following month and a half. I don’t remember feeling a thing then, but my family was suffering for me.
My brother, at the time, was in a rehab center in San Diego, Texas and wasn’t allowed to come down to the Valley to see me. My sister was away in college and was expecting a baby girl. My mother didn’t want for my situation to affect her pregnancy and didn’t allow her to visit. When I woke up after those intense weeks, I remember feeling like my body was on fire. I was still breathing through a respiratory tube because my lungs weren’t responding well. The doctors confirmed that I had Rickettsia Typhi. A simple tick bit was the cause of me and my family’s pain.
A week later I was released from the hospital. My family and friends were by my side the entire time I was ill. Soon after I was released, I was able to walk without feeling weak and was able to go back to school. But not everything was well, my mother had to pay for all my hospital bills and my father wasn’t able to support her financially.
In May, I finished the tenth grade and my sister moved back in with my mother and me to have her baby here. Not only was my mother still paying off the hospital bills, but she had to support my sister, my sister’s baby, and me as well. On June 2008, I turned 16 and was excited to find a job. A month after my birthday I got hired at a local J.C. Penney’s store. I knew my mother couldn’t afford to buy my sister and me what we needed, but because of my job, I was able to pay for my own clothes and schools supplies for the following year. I currently still work at J.C. Penney, but I don’t allow it to interfere with my schoolwork. After I graduate from high school, I plan on attending The Art Institute of Austin and graduate with a fashion and retail management bachelor’s degree.
My life hasn’t been easy, but it has taught me that I can’t take anything for granted. One day you’re here and the next day you’re gone. It’s been tough, but I wouldn’t change anything about my past. I learned to love unconditionally, live life to the fullest, and appreciate everyone and everything around me.
