Texas Girl Born in Jail Has Big Plans After Graduating At the Top of Her Class

By
Claire O'Hare
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OPINION | This article contains opinion. This site is licensed to publish this content.

Despite being born in jail, Aurora Sky Castner has made a remarkable achievement by graduating at the top of her class and securing admission into Harvard University.

The 18-year-old was born to a mother who was incarcerated in Galveston County Jail, but her father took her in as a newborn and raised her as a single parent.

Castner’s mother has not been a part of her life since then.

Castner reportedly started her application essay to Harvard with the sentence, “I was born in prison.”

Her mentor, Mona Hamby, said, “I was given a paper about her. Her hero was Rosa Parks, her favorite food was tacos from Dairy Queen and she loved to read. I thought this sounds like a bright little girl. I still have that paper today.”

Hamby helped Castner with many things, including picking out glasses and getting her first salon haircut.

Through early action, she was accepted into the Ivy League and intends to study law when she begins school in the fall.

Despite moving frequently with her father, Castner remained in Montgomery County throughout her childhood.

“It was a very different environment than I grew up in and that’s not a bad thing,” Castner said. “Everything that Mona taught me was very valuable in the same way that everything that I went through before Mona was very valuable.”

Castner toured the Harvard campus in March 2022.

“After that trip, I saw her love for the school intensify,” Hamby said.