College & Workforce Readiness Video

Resilience, Faith, and Support: How Twin Brothers Forged Diverging Paths to College

By Brooke Saias — September 21, 2021 1 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Video

Resilience, Faith, and Support: How Twin Brothers Forged Diverging Paths to College

By Brooke Saias — September 21, 2021 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

COVID first struck their small Arkansas town the spring of their junior year. As seniors, they continued to feel its ripple effects as they navigated classes, college applications, and graduation.

In this piece, John and Jonathan Easter, twin brothers from Bradley, Ark., reflect on the impact the pandemic had on their college plans, and the challenges they’ve overcome as the first in their immediate families to pursue higher education.

bradley publish 3
bradley publish 4

Throughout their journeys, they received support from their families as well as the Rural Community Alliance, a nonprofit organization that empowers students in rural communities.

Produced and Edited by Brooke Saias
Filmed by Patrick Rodgers & April Kirby
Original Music: Louis Weeks
Sound Mix: Nick Warner
Executive Producer: Emma Patti Harris
Coverage of the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need is supported in part by a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, at www.jkcf.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Engaging Every Learner: Strategies to Boost Math Motivation
Math Motivation Boost! Research & real tips to engage learners.
Content provided by Prodigy Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
The Ripple Effect: Mental Health & Student Outcomes
Learn how student mental health impacts outcomes—and how to use that data to support your school’s IEP funding strategy.
Content provided by Huddle Up
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Tennessee Pauses Bill Challenging Immigrant Students’ Rights
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have asked U.S. officials for guidance on whether the bill would jeopardize federal funding.
2 min read
A woman embraces her child outside a House hearing room during protests against a bill that would allow public and charter schools to deny immigrant students from enrolling for classes in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2025.
A woman embraces her child outside a House hearing room during protests against a bill that would allow public and charter schools to deny immigrant students from enrolling for classes in Nashville, Tenn., March 11, 2025.
George Walker IV/AP
College & Workforce Readiness Student Loans in Default to Be Referred to Debt Collection, Ed. Dept. Says
The Education Department will begin collections next month, officials said Monday.
3 min read
The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington on Dec. 3, 2024. The department said this week it was resuming collections on student loans that are in default.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
College & Workforce Readiness The Skill Students Need Most to Succeed in Future Jobs
Hint: It’s not necessarily factoring polynomials.
4 min read
Illustration of a young man balancing and walking on pencil tips that look like poles and dressed in a graduation cap and gown.
iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Then & Now Why JD Vance’s Changing Rhetoric on Tariffs Matters for Schools
In a 2017 Education Week interview, Vance said education, not protectionism, is key to a strong American workforce.
7 min read
Then and Now, JD Vance, manufacturing, trade schools and jobs
Liz Yap via Canva with Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP<br/>