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My First Win

One of my top students (let's call him "JR") got accepted into a New York City college this week. It took a while for the happiness to sink in. Now that it has, I feel pretty fucking great.

I honestly can't take much credit. JR is intelligent and multi-faceted. The only reason he's at my school is because he got lazy, but who isn't guilty of that at some point? The difference is: When he fell behind, he took care of his shit, worked his ass off, and now he's ready to move on. I respect that. I respect that a lot.

I suppose I'm even happier because JR reminds me of a young me: Oldest child, tough childhood, perverted sense of humor... His story reeks of perseverance, so I can't help but root for the guy! Unfortunately, he has to deal with one problem I can't imagine having to deal with in this country: he's undocumented.

Oh by the way, if you're undocumented in this country, most colleges will not accept you. Those that do, require you to jump through various loopholes while also paying full tuition. Good thing JR can just pay off full tuition by picking up an easy on-campus job, right? Wrong. He's undocumented so unless someone's paying him under the table, he can forget about it. Anyone know any campus jobs that can support a full tuition and also not require to provide a social security number? Shit...

JR is one of the smartest, hard-working students at my school (a model student) and yet, he won't have the same benefits some of the spoiled, indifferent brats at my school throw away by now showing up. What a waste. That pisses me off.

I suppose I can ignore how crappy the situation is for one day. Congratulations JR, wish we had more like you.
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Comments

nh said…
take some credit! you know you pushed him to work on his applications and perfect his essays. a little encouragement can go a long way!
March 8, 2010 at 10:46 AM
Alpha Za said…
Congrats man, make yourself reek of that sweet smell of success, bottle it and ebay it your former banking brethren.

THIS is what your working towards, not getting these guys into colleges, but giving them the tools, motivation and resources that they can do it themselves.

FUCKING AWESOME!
March 9, 2010 at 12:46 AM
Yo Mista! said…
It really is an amazing feeling (for him and me). We're still waiting to hear back from a few more city schools, but it's great that he has at least one locked down. He needs to start looking for scholarships that don't require a social security number... this is one of his challenges for the rest of the year.
March 9, 2010 at 12:04 PM
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