LAFAYETTE, La. – Most parents and guidance counselors advise high school seniors to apply to more than one college — to have at least one “backup school.”
Entrepreneurship and hard work are her family’s traits. They set goals and write them on white boards they keep around the house.
“Then we help each other to accomplish them,” Gary said.
Her mom home-schools about 12 kids in addition to her son, Payton. They’re always working, learning and volunteering, putting their business profits back into the community, Gary said.
And the family balances the workload of school and home businesses with a chronic illness. Since she was a little girl, Cormier’s immune system has not been able to fight sickness, which has resulted in asthma and chronic skin issues.
She has been hospitalized many times, at least twice this year, her mom said, and spent much of Friday having blood work done to check her white blood cells. But she’ll smile, as she describes it, true to her mission of inspiring others.
“Since I was a child, I was always in and out of the hospital,” Cormier said. “When I was young, it affected my self-esteem. But now I can use it to inspire others.”
She had many options for this fall, but Cormier had to choose one. She landed on Xavier University of Louisiana, a private historically black university in New Orleans that offered her a full ride — as did 16 other schools.
“It was an easy decision,” Cormier said, but not because of the money. Xavier is well-known for its “pipeline” of African-American graduates to medical school and those students’ success rates.
Because she wants to be a doctor, it made perfect sense.
“Xavier’s goals align with mine,” she added.
Her time in the hospital, both as a patient and a volunteer, led her to choose that path. She has been mentored by medical and other STEM professionals.
“She wants to continue to inspire children,” Gary said.
“To want more for themselves and for their education,” Cormier said to finish her mom’s sentence.
Day 7: Papadi Chips Today I made the last recipe from my meal prepping food box from Nashville Top Chefs. It was a snack, a spicy snack, papadi chips. Now, from the beginning until now I can honestly say this was the easiest thing to make. All I needed was tortillas and seasoning and vegetable oil … Continue reading Snacking, Day 7
Day 6: Charred Corn My week is slowly coming to an end for my meal prepping from my Nashville Top Chefs food box. I made it to day 6 woot woot. Today I made charred corn. I had to remix it though, I didn't have a flame or grill to char the corn over so I improvised. … Continue reading Eat Up, Day 6
Day 5: Pulao Rice It is officially Day 5 of my meal prepping from my Nashville Top Chefs food box. Today I made a remix to the recipe. I did not have peas, but I did have some carrots, I did not want to dice the carrots, so I just cut them in regular slices. Now, another … Continue reading Eating Good, Day 5
Day 4: Vegetable Samosas with Chimichurri It's day 4 of my meal prepping from my Nashville Top Chefs food box, and man was this dish yummy tonight. It was actually smooth preparing this dish this evening. I did have some substitutes I made. Now, this dish was suppose to be made with Phyllo Dough, but I did … Continue reading Good and Simple Eats, Day 4
Day 3: Malai Kofta in Curry Tomato Cream Sauce I made it to Day 3 of my meal prepping from my Nashville Top Chefs food box, and I did not think I would make it. Today, I basically made vegetarian meatballs and put them in a curry tomato sauce. I have a lot to say about this … Continue reading Creative Eats!!! Day 3
Day 2: Chickpea Vegetable Curry Today is Day 2 of my meal prepping from my Nashville Top Chefs food box. This was probably one of the easiest meals to make, with only 6 main ingredients and some basmati rice, it was a piece of cake. For this recipe, the only additional thing I needed to buy was … Continue reading Simple Eating, Day 2
Day 1: Tandoori Chicken in Tikka Masala with Homemade Naan Bread Alright, so I made it through my first recipe from Nashville Top Chefs. It started out rough, because, like I said in my previous post, I'm no chef. I did have to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things. I … Continue reading Let’s Eat!!! Day 1
I love me some gooooooooood food!!!!!!! Recently, after one of my fitness classes, during our wind down open discussion, a lady brought up this new meal program that she had tried and I was convinced to give it a try as well. The program is called Nashville's Top Chefs, NashTopChef for short (that's also the … Continue reading A New Kind Of Taste
© Chantelle Gary Normandie Cormier, 18, graduated from Early College Academy and South Louisiana Community College. She has been accepted to more than 100 colleges and awarded millions in scholarships. She’s decided to attend Xavier University in New Orleans this fall in her path to become a doctor.
Just Rocky 