Mr. Romero by Kimberly

Mr. Romero by Kimberly - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

My fifth-grade teacher was my inspiration. Before Mr. Romero, I did not believe in myself academic wise. My mother and other close family relatives didn't either, however, Richard Romero did, he saw something in me that nobody else did. As an elementary student, I was not academically advanced, I was below average. In the first grade, I remember sitting across the circular table from my teacher and my mom sitting next to me at a parent conference meeting. Having poor academic grades, my teacher informed my mom that the best option for me as of that moment was to retake the first grade. Back then I didn’t think school was important. I didn't think much of this incident or even how to better my grades. My father was disappointed in me, however, at the time I did not understand why. As a young child, many of my family relatives believed I would not make it far in life. I'd have a few aunts and uncles in which they would verbally state how they feel pity for me to my parents, and some would even laugh. I was not the brightest student and being an English learner made it greatly difficult. English is not my first language. I was born and raised in a Latino family, in which Spanish was only spoken at home and was also my first language. Since my parents being non-English speakers, they could not help much with my academics in elementary. Fifth grade came around. Mr. Romero was known for being assertive and a strict teacher who held high expectations of his students. There would be many moments in class in which I still remember that Mr. Romero would call on me even though I wasn't raising my hand. This action was not to embarrass me in front of the whole class but it was so I could stay engaged with the lesson and learn. Mr. Romero challenged me not only academically but with my persona. He once said to me, “Think about school like a game, you have to practice in order to win”. I remember going home and I’d read a book each day for about thirty minutes. After I finished, I would turn it into the school library the next day and get another and repeat. My math skills also improved during this year. When parent conferences came around, my parents were particularly stunned at the good news they received about my grades. My mother was completely astonished, and as for my father, he was proud of me. My parents were extremely happy to see me perform better academically. I am extremely thankful for having a teacher that believed in me more than I believed in myself, who didn't see me with pity in his eyes but with hope. This encouraged me to stay committed and consistent with my education. I claimed to be successful in my future academics and strive to earn the best grades that I possibly could. To this day, in high school, I have only received two B+ 's and studied immensely to contain A’s and higher. Since my freshman year to senior year I challenged myself rigorously by taking all the honors and advanced placement classes that I could possibly take. I passed four of my advanced placement courses, and still waiting for next year in May to come around so that I could pass more of my AP course exams. Along with this, I did not only challenge myself academically but also with school involvement such as clubs and sports. Freshman and junior year I was the volleyball captain and on top of that AVID president. I was also in the varsity team for track and field since freshman year up to sophomore year. I continued to be the AVID president for all my fours year of high school, which I am also the first student to hold such position. During my sophomore year summer I attended an Intensive Law and Trial program at the University of Stanford. This program that I attended challenged me in learning law procedures, the process of creating cases and at the end performing a mock trial at the San Francisco court. Furthermore, in my sophomore year, I created a philosophy club in which the main purpose was to discuss theories and paradox situations. In my junior year, I created a Women of Culture club in which discussions such as gender inequality and disrmination take place in today's society. Today I am also the top four in my senior class. With the obstacles that I went through in my childhood, they helped build me to be the best student that I could be.