A moment of gloating
Entry posted by docoflove1974
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And it's well-deserved, dammit.
Working primarily at a community college, there's nothing more satisfying than to hear that one of your students is going to go onto a 4-year degree. For the benefit of the non-Americans, our educational system here has the 4-year universities (where one earns a Bachelor's degree, or more) and 'community colleges' or 'junior colleges'. These CCs offer several types of courses, and one can get their Associate's degree so that they can either enter into the workforce more prepared than the average high school graduate, or transfer into a 4-year university to finish their education. Most people who do this either came from poor educational backgrounds, poor socio-economic backgrounds, or both. There are many other roles, too, but that is primarily the central goal.
One of my students is a typical transfer student. He's an immigrant from Mexico, whose family has very little in life but places a high value on education. Both he and his twin sister are students at our college, and are highly active in the campus and in the community. They're highly driven students who want to get their Bachelor's degree and help the Hispanic community in various ways. He's a true joy in the classroom, and wants to study communications and film, so that he can go to film school and eventually be a documentary film maker, with is central focus being on immigration and social justice.
He just got the news at the end of last week: he's transferring to a very good 4-year public university...and a $20,000 scholarship!!!!!! While it won't give him a cushy life, it will pay for tuition, room and board, books, and pretty much make it so that if he does work, it's because he wants a little extra money. Basically, he doesn't have to worry about his educational costs. To put it mildly, I'm overflowing with pride.
I think for me what makes this even better is that I spent the end of my Spring Break reading through applications for our college's scholarship. I don't know how many we'll give out--it depends on how much money we have--but of the 20 applications in my packet, there was only one which didn't describe such situations where students are working full time (or 2 part-time jobs), taking as many courses as they can so that they can finish their degrees, earn their goals, and provide for their family and community. I wanted to give them all money, and was actually getting depressed about it. It really humbles you and makes you realize how good you have things. But the news today just puts everything right...at least one person has been given the chance to fulfill his dreams, and I know with every cell in my body that he will achieve them all.
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