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Miracle Queen seems like any other academically ambitious teen; she’s near the top of her class, takes part in school organizations, extracurricular activities and church and even finds time to read for fun.

The Woodrow Wilson Early College High School student has a penchant for science and math and is going to attend Prairie View A&M University, where she will major in chemical engineering.

Queen is the recipient of the Lathan Memorial Scholarship, having risen to the top of the finalists through her academic prowess, test scores, extracurricular and more.

But there’s more to her story.

Her mom speaks

After eight miscarriages, Felice Victor-Queen decided on the name Miracle for the current pregnancy at the time. She had faith God was eventually going to bless her with a child.

She was correct in her faith.

Approximately 26 weeks into the pregnancy, she began to battle high blood pressure that would not go down and soon, her daughter Miracle Queen, entered the world — all 15 ounces in size.

Weighing less than a stick of butter, Miracle had a reddish appearance. Babies born at this stage are not fully formed. Blood vessels in a micro preemie’s eyes need to grow, breathing is difficult and some have issues with their hearts.

“They didn’t think she’d make it at all,” the mother said. “They had kind of prepped me, prepared me for a hospital stay between six to nine months.”

Family believes a higher power was watching over the infant, as she only spent three months in the hospital. Queen was able to bring her daughter home on what was the actual delivery due date. Staff at Texas Children’s Hospital was shocked at how quickly the infant progressed.

The baby grew, having heart surgery at the age of 3 but progressed without other major health problems.

Miracle shares

The soft-spoken teen is part of a number of activities in and outside of school.

She’s a member of the Memorial High School Choir, was recently inducted into the National Honor Society, is president of Golden Triangle Region- TAME (Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering), a member of the Asian Culture Club, chaplain of the Maritime Club, an intern through Port Arthur Independent School District, where she is a “sub tutor” at DeQueen Elementary School, a praise dancer at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration since she was 4, and member of Delta Gems.

She is a member of Ruach Church, where she is a member of the Praise Team and youth department, and takes dance at Danceworks Studio

In her downtime she enjoys reading. Her favorite genre is fantasy.

Lathan scholarship

Miracle Queen knows the story behind the Lathan Foundation. It was started by Mary Lathan, a longtime Port Arthur educator, to commemorate the lives of her husband, Anthony Sr., 44; and sons Anthony Jr., 19, and Andre, 18, who were killed in a car crash in July 1997.

The Lathan Memorial Scholarship began in 1998, when PAISD had three high schools. Subsequently, her parents became ill and she was unable to take care of her parents and tend to the scholarship responsibilities. Later she had medical issues of her own.

Hurricane Harvey and COVID made the road to the scholarship program bumpy. Then in 2021 she gave a $1,000 scholarship, and that student is nearing graduation and “doing very well,” she said.

After skipping a year she began to call out to students, friends, family, church and others to reestablish her steering committee and board of directors.

“I am very honored to receive the scholarship,” Miracle Queen said. “I feel like the story of how it was founded is a sad one, but I believe it is a beautiful way to remember them.” Miracle Queen

George Davis, a member of the scholarship committee, said Miracle Queen fit all of the criteria for the scholarship’s requirements.

Her application stood out among those received from test scorers to involvement in school and the community.

Davis said he feels honored to be part of the scholarship committee, especially as Mary Lathan was his English III teacher and he knew her sons.

And, as a person who loves giving back to his community, Davis said it was a joy to help reward students for doing well.

Last words

Felice Victor-Queen described her daughter as shy and soft-spoken.

“She is very caring and loving. She’s self-motivated, that’s for sure. She loves God and loves to worship,” Victor-Queen said.

Miracle Queen has always been studious, she said, but when she was younger she didn’t like to read. Then a teacher encouraged her to read 20 minutes every day and she soon fell in love with reading.

The mom is happy to know Miracle Queen is the recipient of the Lathan Foundation Scholarship.

Lathan was one of Victor-Queen’s teachers while growing up. She considers Lathan herself a miracle.

“And now Miracle has received the Lathan Foundation Scholarship,” she said. “It’s divine connection.”