One Path, Two Sisters: How College Track Changed the One Family Forever

SOUTHEAST, DC (June 11, 2026) When Leanna J. left Southeast D.C. for Bowie State University, she wasn’t just the first in her family to go to college. She was becoming something else for her younger sister Chyann: proof.

Proof that the path was real, proof that it was possible, and proof that a girl from Southeast D.C. could walk it…and thrive.

This fall, Chyann W. will follow her sister to Bowie State. They will be on the same campus, in the same city, both College Track scholars, both first-generation college students. And on May 20, they stood together on stage at the grand opening of College Track’s Southeast D.C. site — the place that helped make all of it possible.

“Watching my sister go through College Track before me gave me a real example of what the journey looks like,” Chyann said. “She wasn’t just my sister. She was someone I looked up to and learned from.”

A First-Generation Story, Told Twice

Leanna is a sophomore at Bowie State, studying social work. She grew up in Southeast D.C. knowing she wanted to go to college, but not fully understanding what that journey would require. College Track became the place where she figured it out.

“College Track became a safe space for me,” she said. “Every day I showed up, I knew I was investing in my future in some way.”

It gave her structure, accountability, and the kind of consistent support that helped her not just get to college, but stay there and succeed. She graduated high school, enrolled at Bowie State, and didn’t look back.

What she didn’t fully anticipate was what her journey would mean for the person watching it most closely.

Chyann is a DCPS graduate who has known since she was young that she wanted to pursue broadcast journalism. She wants to tell stories from communities like hers. She just needed to see that a path existed to do it.

“Seeing my sister succeed showed me that this path wasn’t just possible,” Chyann said. “It was something I could actually achieve too.”

With College Track’s support including coaches checking in on her grades, helping with applications, and pushing her to stay focused, college shifted from something Chyann hoped for to something she was actively building toward. “The biggest shift for me was going from thinking ‘maybe I can do this’ to knowing ‘I am going to do this.'”

Choosing Bowie State didn’t require much deliberation. “It felt natural,” Chyann said. “It’s not about going to the same school. It’s about continuing a path that we’ve both worked hard for.”

For Leanna, coming back to Southeast D.C. for the grand opening carried a weight she hadn’t expected.

“Coming back for this moment is powerful because I can see both where I started and where students are just beginning,” she said.

She looked out at the crowd and thought about the students who would walk through the doors of the new site in the years ahead, students who would have even more access and support than she and Chyann did. Students who might, one day, bring a younger sibling along behind them.

“At first, I didn’t realize how much my journey would impact my sister,” Leanna said. “Now, seeing her go through the same process and knowing she’s coming to Bowie State, it feels like everything has come full circle.”

What a Permanent Home Means

The opening of College Track’s Southeast D.C. site is more than a milestone for the organization. For Chyann and Leanna, it is a signal to students in their community that something lasting is being built here.

“Now that there’s a permanent College Track center opening in Southeast D.C., it feels like something lasting is being built for students like me,” Chyann said. “It means the next generation will have a place where they can get support, stay focused, and start to see what’s possible earlier on.”

For Leanna, the message is simpler and more personal: “This is what it looks like when support reaches a whole family, not just one student. When one person takes that step, it can open the door for others. I took the first step and now my sister is right behind me. That’s how change starts.”

Chyann has one thing she wants students in her community to hear: “You don’t have to have everything figured out right away. The most important thing is being willing to take the first step and accept support when it’s there. This is bigger than just me going to college. It’s about showing what’s possible for students coming from Southeast D.C.”

And Leanna has a message too, not just for students, but for the community watching: “When one person takes that step, it can open the door for others.”

Two sisters. One path. A community that will never look the same.