Profound Impact of Encouragement by Lori

Profound Impact of Encouragement by Lori - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

The biggest piece of advice that I would pass down to students younger than me is never allow your life to be run with the preconceived expectations people place on you.
I am at my desk, getting progressively more anxious with each successive *thwack.* That’s the sound of my seventh grade math teacher, Mrs. Grabowski, slamming our recent tests face down on our desks. Oddly, congratulations follows each slap. I know the slaps are all mine, while the encouragement is theirs. This is our game. Clearly, she saving me for last and relishing my stifled look of terror. As she draws nearer, I can see she’s keeping me in her periphery, hardly acknowledging the others she so casually applauds. She finally reaches ground zero, and I feel that familiar breeze of that test landing in front of me detonating any resolve I have. Without missing a beat, she casually consoles me. “Lori, I hope you know that the only reason a student like you will ever get accepted into college is because of where you come from. Man I wish I was a minority, you all have it so easy. These grades are above average for you guys though, so I’m sure you’ll have no issue getting accepted into college.” I have no words and no right to them. After all, I’ve made little effort, and I know it. I deserve it. How can I dispute what seems so obvious?
So there I sat forcing back tears. Looking back now, it’s obvious that she had no problem clarifying what was expected of me: nothing. Resigned to that fate was almost relieving. I didn’t have to try, so I hardly did until the second day of my freshman year. I was called out of gym class and into the guidance office for the obligatory meeting with my new guidance counselor. The familiar face of my middle school guidance counselor, who, as fate would have it, had transferred to my high school, comforted me as I sat down. “Lori, where do you see yourself in four years?” So much for comfort. I cringed, passing it off as a reflexive shoulder shrug, but that didn’t stop her. “Lori, I’ve known you since sixth grade. I know what you are capable of, but you’re letting yourself become another statistic. Your Mexican background doesn’t guarantee college acceptance. You want more for yourself than simply to be the first in your family to attend college. Don’t just wait for your experience to shape you. Start shaping your experience now. You should be enrolled in honors English. It’s a better fit and the challenge you want and deserve. Think about it and let me know.” Again, I had no words, but I was on my way to finding them when I transferred to honors English the following week.
That conversation radically altered the next four years of my life. Experiencing firsthand what an outsized impact guidance counselors can have on her students has made me want to follow in Mrs. Tricario’s footsteps. I sometimes question whether or not I deserved her encouragement. The truth is I probably didn’t, but what she provided me with was a new mentality that pushed me to putting forth my best effort. I want to do the same for other young minority students. By example, I would love to challenge students to see what education can really offer them beyond a career. By instilling a love of education, I can help others learn to defeat the adversity and ignorance that traps them. With the right perspective, granted by a great education, I’d like to show students the alternatives to racial victimization. I want to teach others how to turn that racism in on itself to empower those in any minority to lead fulfilling lives free of that weight. Through encouragement, patience, and persistence I aspire to increase the number of Latinos that complete post secondary education and to reform the way society handles and views stereotype - even if it is one student at a time.