Senior Spotlight: Congratulations, Zoe!
Zoe is a Downtown Boxing Gym graduating senior at Detroit’s Cass Tech High School. She plans to attend Bowling Green State University in Ohio this fall where she’ll study exercise science. The Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program is proud to have a 100% high school graduation rate since 2007 thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff members, tutors and students alike.
Meet Zoe!
Zoe is a Cass Tech High School senior who will graduate in June. She first came to the Downtown Boxing Gym several years ago when we were in our previous location on St. Aubin Street. The varsity swimmer who also ran track says she was drawn to our program after watching videos of boxer, Laila Ali.
“She inspires me,” Zoe says.
The teen acquired many skills in the boxing ring including “hand and foot coordination” and learning “how to be quick, think fast, and outsmart my opponent.”
She also learned important life lessons while attending our free, after-school academic and athletic program.
“Coach Khali pushed us to do well in school,” she says. “He always pushed us to take the tutors seriously and to appreciate the opportunities we were fortunate enough to have.”
“Her grades improved with her tutor,” adds Zoe’s dad, Darryl. “She liked everything that was going on at the boxing gym. She liked the atmosphere there. She likes structure.”
Zoe says she will never forget her tutor, Ms. Brittany, who spent hours working with her one-on-one so she could master algebra II. She’s also grateful for her parents who supported her desire to attend the boxing gym and bought her boxing gloves and shoes.
Future Plans
Zoe plans to study kinesiology, or exercise science, with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. She also has other big plans; she dreams of someday opening her own nonprofit after-school program for children in Detroit – as a way of paying it forward.
“A lot of people I grew up with – if their circumstances were different, they wouldn’t be in jail or their lives would be different,” she says. “If they were shown something other than what they were used to, they could have been something. I want to provide that opportunity for more students.”
Congratulations, Zoe! Your Downtown Boxing Gym family wishes you a bright and winning future ahead!