Having to grow up in a rough neighbor, going to college and being kicked out, growing up with no parents and going to jail, and being raised during segregation and move to not be mistreated and end up in worst are life stories that can be a testimony that people may look at as inspirational and encouraging.
Author Bill Pennington formulates about Victor Cruz who attends the University of Massachusetts in the article “Defying the Odds.” Cruz was a student who had all the support and help he could get while in college, but he just did not realize it. With him not taking the initiative to use the help he was offered, his football scholarship was revoked and he was kicked out of college. Cruz had this situation happen to him because of his grades.
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Cruz finally took the initiative and received the help he was being offered. In the end, he got the opportunity to attend the University of Massachusetts, play football again, and have better looking grades than before.
Abandoned by his parents at age seven, living with his grandparents for a while, and then in detention homes where he ran away, Jimmy Santiago Baca found himself in prison one day at the age of twenty one. The reason he was in prison was because he was a successful drug dealer (Baker 858). Baca never knew how to read or write because he dropped out of school. When he received a letter from a man in a church program he had a little difficulty reading it. After reading the letter, Baca said, “I believe something in my brain or something in my nervous system was impacted by poetry, by the way the lines and the words were arranged” (Baker 860). At first, being able to not read or write Baca did not know what the letter said. But with the help of a prison library, he finally could read and write. Allowing himself to be able feel those emotions when reading the letter. He knew it was time to
In a person’s life, one must overcome obstacles that have the potential to either negatively or positively impact their future. Whether it is a serious obstacle, such as being involved with drugs, or a minor obstacle, such as procrastinating an important essay for the night before it is due, the choices people make can influence the way they live their lives. In Wes Moore’s inspiring non-fiction book, The Other Wes Moore, two boys with the same name start off living a few blocks away from one another, but turn out to be completely different individuals. At first, they were both troublemakers, getting in trouble with the law. However, as time progressed, the author, Wes Moore, became a Rhodes scholar and quite successful, while the other Wes Moore was sentenced to life in prison. The difference between these two men was the surrounding influences that shaped their growth as people. In a person’s growth, the most important factors are a positive role model in a positive environment because a positive role model will provide the path to success and will aid that person in achieving prosperity.
Ron Suskind, author of the national bestseller, A Hope in the Unseen, writes about the real-life story of Cedric Jennings. Jennings was a high school senior at a crime-infested school in Washington, D.C. Jennings beats the odds in Suskind's novel of the American struggle, and gains acceptance into Brown University (an Ivy League school). Jennings dealt with more than the average high school turmoil in his four years at Frank W. Ballou Senior High School. He couldn't even accept his award for a year of perfect grades in fear that his life would be threatened: "Pride and such accomplishment is acceptable behavior for sterling students at high schools across the land, but at Ballou and other urban schools like it, something else is at work" (Suskind 17). This is the crab in the bucket syndrome (a phrase coined by educators, Suskind explains) where one crab pulls the other crab down, and keeps them from climbing out of the bucket.
Most of the population today, mainly the younger generations, do not know exactly how good they have it or how much worse the quality of life can be. Personally, I’ve been fortunate enough in my life to not have experienced too many hardships. It was a real eye-opener for me after my interview with Mary Fowler, Great Depression survivor. She has been a close friend to my grandmother for as long as I can remember, but I have never heard her real story.
In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian there are examples of courage throughout the whole book. Junior decides he wants to go to an all white school. ‘“I want to go to Rearden,” said Junior. I couldn’t believe I was saying it. For me, it seemed as real as saying, “I want to fly the moon.” said Junior.’ (Alexie, 46) This quote is important because it shows that Junior isn’t afraid to try new things and he doesn’t
In Baca's poem, it is evident from the very beginning that he's setting a tone of utter
Jennifer Gratz, Patrick Hamacher, and Barber Grutter have filed lawsuits against the University of Michigan for being denied admission based on their race. Hamacher had a “GPA of slightly under 3.4 and an ACT score of 28” (Kosseff). Gratz, who attended Southgate High School, had a GPA of 3.765 and ACT score of 25, said she hopes to change an admissions system that she believes is flawed” (Kosseff). Grutter, who tried to gain admission to the University of Michigan law school, maintained a straight-A average through college. She did this all in spite having two children and working nights to support them. All of them witnessed students with much lower credentials get accepted because they were minorities.
He explains that “I could respond, escape, indulge; embrace or reject earth or the cosmos” (Baca 55). Baca was exploring on an endless journey without any boundaries, in which he could see his past floating around him. He saw his future and what language was doing to him. Baca expresses that “each word steamed with the hot lava juices of my primordial making, and I crawled out of stanzas dripping with birth-blood, reborn and freed from the chaos of my life” (55). Baca was no longer a captive of his own emotions never feeling like a victim of other people’s mockery and intimidation. He was physically in prison but in his poems, he was anywhere that he wanted to be. With the power of words Baca realized he could do anything and soon overcame his fears of
The lessons that are taught through experience are usually the ones that stick with children for a lifetime. In Toni Cade Bambara's “The Lesson”, Miss Moore, a prominent character in the story, teaches a lesson to underprivileged children growing up in Harlem. Bambara's work is described as “stories [that] portray women who struggle with issues and learn from them.” (Vertreace, Par. 48) Bambara uses Miss Moore and her characteristics to teach Sylvia and the other children about social inequality and the idea of pursuing personal aspirations regardless of social status. Miss Moore has many admirable characteristics; she's intelligent, patient and caring.
Higher education is not easy to achieve. Many obstacles barricade the path to a college degree. These obstacles are referred to as barriers. Barriers can be cultural, academic, systemic, or personal obstructions that impede success. In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks' provides a personal account of the institutional barriers faced while pursuing higher education, just as Rendón did in From the Barrio to the Academy. Douglas Massey et al. discussed how the theories of capital deficiency, stereotype threat, and critical theory serve as barriers in The Source of the River. Derald Wing Sue's barrier of micro-aggressions is discussed in
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
In comparison to Logan’s experiences, I faced change of grades and failure once in my academic life. As mentioned, Logan was an A student and kept on getting lower grades until he reached to be a C student. Being like that affected his college education and made him dropout. My whole middle school to the first year of high school I never scored lower than %98, which is equal to an ...
The reason behind this reasoning is because I became a well rounded individual who was exposed to all types of experiences. Some of those include prejudice, determination, struggle and even pride. Nonetheless, these combination of personal experiences have contributed to the person I am today. That is, a young female in the pursue of her aspirations despite the barriers.
A person’s character is developed by the surroundings around them as well as their experiences. The Roman poet Horace quotes “…Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents in which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant…” I agree with the Roman poet, Horace, in that adversity has a way of waking talent from slumber. Adversity can encourage people in ways success and wealth cannot, as there is a benefit in the hardship. In Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, as well as Macbeth, by Shakespeare, adversity has developed the characters. From my observation, I strongly agree that experiences, such as hardship and danger, shape a person.
In the study the graduate student, Mary Willingham a learning specialist now found that some student athletes she had worked with and researched read at a middle school or lower reading level. Willingham explains that she encountered many athletes who faced many academic problems which she admits to helping them get around standards set by the NCAA. In the article written by Ganium, she reports that as CNN did extensive research they found that UNC-Chapel Hill wasn’t the only college guilty of admitting athletes whose academic abilities were less than college level twenty-one colleges to be
People all around the world go through miscellaneous experiences in their lives. Every situation can affect a person in any type of way. The resulting effect does not always need be dissatisfactory; sometimes is a combination or both good and bad. Many aspects in my life have influenced my personality and how I live my life. Getting bullied in middle school has affected my life intensely, however managed to make me stand for myself, a stronger person, and not scared of what anyone says about me.