Breaking Through by Rianna

Breaking Through by Rianna - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

In the United States, going to school is something that I feel has always been taken for granted. Students, including myself at times, feel the weight of their workload on their shoulders and would rather do anything than sit in classrooms for eight hours of the day. Despite how overwhelming it can seem, I never question what my education means for my future. I understand that these twelve years are merely a stepping stone of figuring out who I am in order to achieve greater things and to make a difference in the future. However, I come from a place of great privilege which is not afforded to many people in the world or even many people within my own community. Miami-Dade County is a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, housing some of the richest people and public figures, but in bigger numbers, Miami is home to lots of people who struggle to support their families on a day to day basis. Whereas college seems inevitable to me, like something I’ve been striving towards since the day I could walk, for others, it feels as though it is not even an option.
One of the problems is that many students aren’t getting the proper resources at school in order to stay in school and graduate. I volunteer at an organization called Breakthrough Miami, which is an academic enrichment program held for under-resourced middle school students during summer break and on Saturdays during the school year. I tutor kids during the summer and teach marketing and film editing on Saturdays. I love the work that I do at Breakthrough because I feel like I am making a real impact on the students there. Just to know that I have expanded their horizons on what they can accomplish, even if it's only a little bit, means the absolute world to me because I was once in their shoes. When I was a Breakthrough scholar back in middle school, the mentors that I had were like my older brothers and sisters. Middle school is such a formative period and they helped me learn more about myself and my abilities. It's important that young people know that they are capable of making a difference starting in their community, and eventually, the world. The more that kids see people in leadership, community, and positions of their interests who look like them, the more they will believe that they too can become that future leader to make a difference and do something that they love. In college, I want to continue to volunteer for organizations like Breakthrough Miami and go even further in order to make a difference in education for the world.
Recently, I was selected as a Posse finalist by the Posse Foundation, an organization that grants full-tuition merit-based scholarships to many diverse groups of students in large cities around the US. The work that POSSE does is extremely notable in helping students continue their higher education, receiving acclaim from former president, Barack Obama. My favorite quote that I heard from a Posse graduate while at our finalist meeting is “Posse taught me that where I grew up did not determine where I would end up.” This quote is so powerful because it means that potential is not determined by circumstance. With the right guidance and opportunity, anyone can achieve amazing things in life.
I love organizations like Posse and Breakthrough Miami for the impact that they make in the lives of students. I believe that improving the quality of education and offering students more affordable options for continuing their education would go a long way in changing the faces of leadership that we see, not only in our communities but on a national and global scale. Because of the opportunities that I have been afforded, I want to be one of those people that make a difference in the lives of others.