Grade: 12 School: Loara High School District: Anaheim Union HSD ACSA region: 17 Aisha De Roux has faced challenges her entire life. She was born with drugs in her system and to a mother who could not take care of her. Her junior year of high school, Aisha’s adoptive mother died from stage four ovarian cancer. She found herself alone and struggling to cope with such a massive loss. Aisha found a safe haven at Loara High as a member of the women’s basketball team. She describes the sport as her therapy and thanks her teammates for being the siblings she never had.

Can you explain some of the challenges you’ve faced growing up? I grew up with an adopted mother. It was just me and her. And growing up, it was very lonely because I did not have any siblings. Towards the end of my freshman year, my mom got sick. And she moved into the hospital for quite some time. My grades started to go down. I started to fail a couple of classes. And the month before school ended, my mom passed away from stage four ovarian cancer. Going through this alone, without sharing this grief with anyone, it’s been a challenge. But I’ve overcome it. And honestly, me from three years ago would be really proud because I honestly wouldn’t believe that I would still be here, graduating and pushing forward.

After you lost your mother to cancer, how did you cope with that grief? That feeling is just something that kind of never goes away. You grew up with this one person. And for them to just not be there anymore, it’s definitely something that you have to try to get used to — that feeling of emptiness and loneliness. It’s definitely made me learn how to grow up faster, because I feel like I’ve had to learn how to take care of myself.

What role did basketball play for you in finding that support system? Throughout all the sports that I’ve done, basketball has made me feel completely different than any of the other sports. And I think basketball, just talking about it, it makes me smile. It’s just this feeling of happiness that comes with the sport that I can’t really explain. But it’s been my therapy throughout everything.

What advice would you give to other students who have suffered a loss? It will always be tough. But you just have to keep moving forward and try to stay positive. Even though you have all these people around you, at the end of the day, all you’re going to have is yourself. And you have to be the one to push yourself forward. You have to be the one that thinks positively.