College-bound Uvalde students grapple with leaving a hometown in mourning

Jaime Cruz and Ariana Diaz, best friends and 2022 graduates of Uvalde High School, under a live oak tree growing in the middle of an Uvalde street on Aug. 18. (Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune)

For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or you can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

When Ariana Diaz’s top college pick notified her she had been accepted into the class of 2026, she quickly imagined having to explain to her New York University classmates what corner of smalltown Texas she came from.