The Donna Independent School District has been around for more than 100 years, and Dr. Angela Dominguez is the first woman superintendent in the district's history.

Her goal is to inspire students and get them ready for graduation.

"I knew that I wanted to come back and make a difference in a community very similar to the one that I grew up," Dominguez said.

In 2021, Dominguez became the first woman to lead Donna ISD. In the past century, only men have been the top educators in the district.

"I was kind of surprised, actually, that I was the first woman in 100 years to come in and take the helm at Donna ISD and for me, it made it even more of an honor to receive the opportunity to come here and serve and lead," Dominguez said.

Dominguez is taking on an important role in a community with a high poverty rate, with most of her kids coming from low income homes.

She knows what that's like, as she grew up in one San Antonio's poorest neighborhoods on the west side.

Dominguez was raised by her single dad and her grandmother. 

There were many challenges she had to overcome as she was getting ready to go off to college, such as feeling unprepared academically.

Dominguez says she often felt like she didn't belong at Dartmouth, the private Ivy League school she attended.

"I really wanted to give up, and I shared that with our staff because as we're graduating students in our school district, we can't afford to compromise. The high expectations that we have to have for our students no matter what they're going through," Dominguez said.

Her teachers motivated her to get through high school and pursue a career in education. Now, in her role, she wants to make sure all of her students have the resources they need to succeed in life.

Her words of advice to her students are finding a role model that will support and encourage you to be the best version of yourself.

Watch the video above for the full story.