The Power of Encouragement and Support by Victor
Victorof New York's entry into Varsity Tutor's November 2015 scholarship contest
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The Power of Encouragement and Support by Victor - November 2015 Scholarship Essay
My education started in a small rural area in central Maine. Garland, the town I lived in was one of twelve towns whose children all attended the schools in the industrial center of Dexter Maine. At the time, the shoe factory had not yet moved to Puerto Rico and were still the highest paying jobs around; requiring almost no education at all. Because of this, most families placed very little emphasis on the value education.
Coming from one of those poor families and being the oldest of six, it was likely that I would get one of those jobs. Additionally, being 13 years old meant that I was already an adult. I was actually required by my mother to stay home from school and to both, take care of my younger siblings and fetch our daily requirement of water from the well. When the truant officer would come and forcibly take me to school, my chores wouldn’t get done so my mother would retaliate by pulling my sister out of school. Naturally, this caused a rift between my sister and I.
The consequence for this mandatory adulthood manifested itself in my failure to pass eighth grade; not only once but twice! Worried that my younger sister who is 11 months my junior, would leave me behind, I worked and paid the cost for summer school. During high school, my sister embraced school and did well. Although I failed many classes, I somehow managed to barely pass a few. We both, however, had the same goal in mind-to graduate as fast as we could and get out of there.
Wanting to escape the pressure to attend college, my sister and I both signed up for the military; her, the US Navy and me, the US Air Force. Shortly after we left for our respective basic training programs, the events of 9/11 initiated a mass deployment of US troops. When my sister’s training ended, she deployed to Iraq and became an instant hero back home. Conversely, I became very ill after my training and was put on medical hold. Ultimately, my diagnosis of crohn’s disease made me ineligible to deploy, thus unable to perform my duties.
Following my honorable discharge, I made it my goal to stay as far away from school as possible. Eventually I found work in a dark, drab, and miserable beer warehouse, at which time truly reflected my emotional state. My Maine work ethic stood out, however, and I was promoted several times and began to enjoy my success. I felt that I had “made it” and done so without school. Unfortunately, after four long hard years, I was laid off. I was told that due to my lack of education that I was expendable. Every time I would contemplate going back to school I thought about not being smart enough and if I was too old to try. I found myself out of options and out of time and decided to ask my sister for advice.
Upon our initial contact, I was surprised not to hear that her last 12 years in the Navy were filled with stories of saving numerous lives or that she had been around the world three times. Instead, she told me that she had recently started going to San Diego Miramar Community College and it changed her life. She said she found her interests and matched them with what she was good at which led her in her pursuit to become a nurse. Her words motivated me but I was skeptical on my approach. After all, my educational experience up to that point was riddled with failure and strife. I decided to take a chance when she invited me to live with her.
In return for helping around the house and finishing various projects, my sister encouraged me to enroll at Miramar and helped me find an apartment right across the street from the campus. Worried that I might quit school, my sister delivered food and other supplies using her special deliveries as a reason to check up on me.
At that point, I could have been half-starved and homeless and would have still been in attendance. From my very first class I was hooked. I found that I enjoyed Math so much that I became a tutor for the college. After all of my personal failures and struggles with education, I was now able to really learn about myself. I found that I really enjoyed the small “eureka” moments when I was able to understand a math problem. Furthermore, the small epiphanies that happened when reading a deep intellectual book sparked my curiosity which led to even more reading. What was the difference between my experience then and my experience now?
Put simply, the difference was the constant encouragement that I received from my sister. Because of her influence, I have since graduated with my Bachelors degree and now in pursuit of a Masters degree, both from Columbia University. The aspect of my education that I am most thankful for is my sister. Without her unconditional support, I would ever have gone this far in my educational career.