Collaborating Through Education by Arantza

Collaborating Through Education by Arantza - November 2020 Scholarship Essay

Due to the way our society has been structured, it’s almost impossible for immigrants and children of immigrants to climb up the social hierarchy. Many times, the black and brown communities struggle to receive funding in many areas, including schools, the place where we exercise our right to an education. The way the American education system is built is so we are constantly competing against each other, and as a result, we cannot move forward to be a progressive society. As someone who is a woman and who is also of Latino decent, these issues in my environment should be pushing me to move forward independently, just stay in my own lane until I get to college and onto my career and live happily ever after at least, that what’s expected from everyone right? Wrong. My education has motivated me to be less competitive and more collaborative, that way I can learn from my other peers, and I think that's something that should really be appreciated.
As a leading capitalist country, one of our values is to consistently be one step ahead of another. Many go on about their life with this fact unnoticed, but if you take a closer look from a young age, a baby, who is the most innocent form of life, will already experience envy when they see a kid with a toy better than his own. This form of greed grows later in life. Suddenly, we want to be the valedictorian, we want the best grades, and often that’s what defines us when we apply to college. Our value is seen as a test score, then it goes on to be net worth. But what happens to the ones we leave behind? What happens to the kid who has an average “C” grade? We are quick to think that those who are below us are inferior, they have the less worth.
Unfortunately, when one is on top, it doesn’t mean that one has the most intelligence, it means that that specific individual can’t think critically. One can look at my transcript and think “Gee this is a great student”, but my question is, based on what? A number? That “C” average kid in my class is so much smarter, but he couldn’t learn the material because his family member is sick, and has to work to bring income into the household because the healthcare they have is expensive. The fact of the matter is that we are way to familiarized with these situations that we’ve normalized and we as a society choose to ignore them. What do we do about it?
We begin by creating a collaborative atmosphere at our schools. It would be almost impossible to force an entire school, or even just a student body to begin working together. Instead we must take the first steps individually. My conscience wouldn’t let me work when I saw other students struggling, so I took the initiative.
During my junior and senior year I have volunteered to be the teaching assistant in my math and science classes. During my junior year, I seemed to have a romantic love for physics, which was the subject lots of students were struggling with. My schedule then wouldn’t allow me to work in other class periods, but during class there was plenty of students I could help. Now, during my senior year, I volunteer to be a teaching assistant in computer science classes during my study hall period. I noticed how different the class progressed with my help. I began to grow less frustrated from being too far ahead in the lesson because the other students were quickening the pace.
Now, I’m a College Board Opportunity Ambassador who works in order to make scholarship resources easier to find. I plan on attending a four-year institution where I know I won’t be forced to compete, but to collaborate for a better tomorrow as a mechanical engineer. I know that collaboration with others in the field will make great discoveries to make our world energy efficient and reduce our carbon footprint. The feeling of service to the world is ultimately what can lead the world forward. I'm