News

HENDERSON — Although it has been a rough year for Prairie View High School senior Nicole Burnett, the 18-year-old Commerce City resident maintains an optimistic attitude.
    Burnett has spent much of her senior year taking care of her family — including her little brother Benjamin, her autistic older brother, Adam, who she describes as “a handful,” her father, who has a number of medical issues and is terminally ill, and her mother, who passed away in March.
    She said it’s “very challenging” to balance school with her responsibilities at home, often staying up until midnight finishing her homework and getting up at 4:30 a.m. a couple times a week to take her father to dialysis. She also handles getting many of the family’s bills paid, one of the many time-consuming sacrifices she regularly makes to ensure her family is taken care of properly.