Kamala Harris surprises California graduates as majority of students head to college

Senior students graduating from Compton High School in California got a VIP surprise as most of them are set to attend colleges in the coming year: Former Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the class of 2025 during the commencement ceremony.

The school district said 87% of the 283 graduates at Compton High have been accepted to four or two-year colleges, including UCLA and UC Berkeley. The graduating class has also received about a half a million dollars in scholarships.

With so much to look forward to, having the former vice president as a special guest was a cherry on top for the graduates, according to MyShay Causey, a graduating senior who was instrumental in inviting Harris. 

MyShay, who is on her way to Cornell University, said she ran into former Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff while she was working at her part-time job at a restaurant in downtown LA.

While Emhoff was eating his dinner, MyShay said she wrote an essay, explaining some of the things that she and fellow students are doing at Compton High School and describing what she did in a student leadership role.

“As a black woman myself, I look up to the way she's portrayed herself,” the teen said.

After MyShay asked Emhoff to pass the note along to his wife, she said she got a phone call from the vice president, asking her about everything from leadership as well as talking up the Compton Unified School District where MyShay is a student board member. 

“I go to the school board meeting the exact same day and said, ‘Hey, guys, I just got off the phone with Kamala Harris. What can I invite her to?’ And they immediately tell me, 'The graduation,’” MyShay recalled.

The student said she felt special to know someone as accomplished as Kamala Harris cared about her and her fellow classmates.

“I’m just so happy to see where this leads, and what this leads to,” MyShay said.