AVID - The Program That Helped Me Grow to Help Others by Bianca

AVID - The Program That Helped Me Grow to Help Others by Bianca - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

It was my sophomore year, our AVID program was hosting a small recruitment rally for eighth graders. I was one of the students responsible for leading the event and our job was to make the students feel welcome and to make high school seem less intimidating. But as I spoke to them, I instantly noticed something was wrong -- they were all holding back.

The Advanced Via Individual Determination -- "AVID" -- program has been the program that opened new doors for me. I became the class president of the program my sophomore and senior year, through that position I learned what it meant to have a second family and to be a leader.

I wanted to hear what the students had to say so I decided to individually ask student what they looked forward to in high school or if they had genuine questions in hopes of getting better responses. At first, the eighth graders continued to hold back so I took it upon myself to list all sorts of programs and activities our school had until I noticed them light up about a specific one. Once I found what they liked, I then told them all I knew about that program, from friends I had in those programs to how to get in. I ultimately discovered each student’s interest and even got them all to open up about their feelings about high school, both fears and excitements. They all lit up and thanked me for helping them.

I had always been the timid one before AVID, but every year I had a teacher who looked out for me and helped to grow my confidence. One of my most cherished memories was when my freshman AVID teacher taught me about the "power-stance," a way of standing that was supposed to help you grow confidence while speaking in from of large groups of people. It may have been a placebo effect, but that one bit of advice forever improved my ability to speak publicly, since that advice I have spoken for AVID in front of my district board, parents, and hundreds of students.

After getting the students to open up it was time for some dancing and activities. We played all of the classic party dance songs, but I noticed many of the eighth graders were not engaging again, their walls were back up. Despite being embarrassed I knew there was only one thing that could do to help. I walked over to the different tables of students and began to randomly dance, which made them laugh. In doing so, I showed them that it was okay to be silly and have fun. Next thing I knew, the entire table of students agreed to dance, then the next table, and soon I nearly everyone began dancing. It may have been an insignificant moment to some, but as someone who has too often been that shy person too scared to let loose, I knew how much it meant to those just like me who were now dancing and smiling.

I know AVID was not the best experience for all of my fellow classmates, but for me it was the program that took me out of my shell. I have been a cheerleader nearly all my life but even cheer was not what taught me what it meant to lead. In my school AVID has stigma and people find it silly or "lame" to be apart of it, but whenever it has been brought up to me I have preached the importance of it because I believe if the program helped me sprout into the strong person I have become, then it can do the same to others. As president I was given the opportunity to spread the message of AVID that anyone can go to college and can be college ready despite their backgrounds, I have gotten to see my peers sprout over the years through the aid of this program -- if I am to take away anything from high school, it is everything that AVID has taught me.