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Zhane Duncan downplays claims that she is gifted, positing that understanding and accepting responsibility alone have brought her success.
Having earned valedictorian status for the Center City-based World Communications Charter School, the humble 17-year-old needed to recognize her singularity at June 14’s commencement, as her allegiance to academics allowed her to graduate a year ahead of schedule.
“Striving for the best should be everyone’s goal,” the resident of the 500 block of Hoffman Street said Friday from her 15-year-old former scholastic haunt. “I have always wanted to broaden my view and like to seek challenges.”
The committed youngster received a great test in September, learning that having a surplus of credits meant she could skip her junior term. She had acquired the padded total through completing extra assignments and participating in Delaware State University’s Intensive Summer Science Program as a freshman. Quickly conquering a touch of fear, she set herself to furthering the only practice she has ever known, immersion in her studies.
“I’ve always put school first,” Duncan, who joined the 450-member charter site in the sixth grade, said. “When I heard about receiving senior designation, I knew I would have to work to have my dreams come true.”
The young lady is still deliberating on what she would like her impending adulthood to yield professionally but realizes college will foster her future. Her alma mater’s emphasis on postsecondary preparation flawlessly matched her tenacious quest for knowledge and bred added enthusiasm for her civic involvement.
“A few schools have accepted me, and I will be deciding soon,” Duncan said, noting she will major in accounting, business management or nursing.
Maryland’s Morgan State University has become a recent suitor, with its nursing program appealing to her affinity for offering a friendly presence to any struggling individual. She has proven that propensity numerous times in her community, mostly through time with Ford PAL, 631 Snyder Ave., and Dixon House, 1920 S. 20th St. The first, for whom she serves as a youth liaison, has greatly gained from her eagerness to be an area advocate for growth, as she has called on her cherished organizational skills to plan and promote charitable events, computer and literacy trainings, field trips, homeless outreach and street cleanings. Girls ages 10 to 16 also have bonded with Duncan through the Positive Images mentoring program, a 26-week experience that, among other boons, helps to build an understanding of proper social conduct, a love for volunteerism and a willingness to craft an assortment of communication skills.
Her conversational talents led Duncan to become a tutor last year. Assisting a boy from Southwark School, 1835 S. Ninth St., she called on her mathematical acumen to take him from an F to a B student.
“Math is my specialty,” she said. “It can help me to relate to real-life situations and solve different problems.”
Numbers again played a role when she chose to work with an autistic boy from Abigail Vare School, 1621 E. Moymensing Ave. Providing homework and speech assistance and engaging in play with the youth reminded Duncan that listening and practicing patience should serve as any relationship’s top elements. She regularly executed them in her tenure at World Communications and garnered the respect of her contemporaries and instructors.
“You could put her on ‘Jeopardy’ because she is such a quick thinker,” chemistry teacher David Rowe said. “If she continues to show as much diligence, she will find renown in whatever field she chooses.”
One of seven children, Duncan derives her desire to thrive from her family, including sister Kandia Malone, who graduated with her at Drexel University’s Mandell Theater.
“I have always tried to involve my children in building their self-esteem,” mother Deania Duncan said. “Zhane would exceed any parent’s expectations.”
Her ambition found a great ally in her high school curriculum, which she deemed “engrossing.”
“I have just felt that being the best is my mission,” Zhane Duncan, who nodded in agreement when Rowe mentioned that she often became mad when not receiving a perfect test score, said as her successors inquired about her status as the school’s lone product ever to skip a grade.
Her clan applauded the National Honor Society figure and senior vice president as she and her friends engaged in the late-spring rite of passage, but she could not count her father among her backers. The incarcerated patriarch makes calls to his offspring, who has received emotional support from his relatives during his absence.
“I just press on,” she said, her voice containing a trace of disappointment over the disruption to her endowing him with affection.
Having forged an amazing academic record, she chose not to ponder lost opportunities as graduation day approached. The mathematics enthusiast enjoys being able to enumerate the connections she formed as a gregarious elementary and secondary student and let their effect register as she prepared her speech.
“I was not overly emotional during practice, thinking, yeah, this is the end of a chapter, but it is the beginning of a new one, too,” Zhane Duncan said.
She retained that attitude until her big day, when the severity of its finality altered her thinking.
“It really hit me that it’s over, and that was a challenge,” she said. “I cried tears of sadness and happiness.”
Her words acknowledged her gratitude for her experiences and their likely reverberations in her decision-making. The whole affair reminded her of her grandmother Scarlet Duncan, whom she lost in November, and encouraged her to side even more fervently with her belief that her future depends mostly on favoring energy over apathy.
“I know I’m physically grown,” she said, “but I still want to work on my emotional strength. I’ve been able to pride myself on my time management and flexibility, but there is so much more, and I’m thankful for my curiosity.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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