By Marilyn Meyer, Special to JTNews
Having been a high school English teacher for more than 30 years, I’m often struck by the themes pervasive in the novels I teach. This fall, I’m teaching The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a seemingly simple allegory, but particularly timely after this year’s presidential election.
Here is a true story, not allegorical at all, about one such case. It began in the fall of 2005 with a bright young woman, Roxana Garcia, a sophomore at Highline High School. It wasn’t easy being raised by a Mexican-American mother who worked two jobs for 60 hours each week to support her three children; with a father in prison, soon to be deported for a crime he probably did not commit.
Freshman year Roxana was angry, tempted by gangs to release the rage within her. Roxana’s mother advised her daughter that she had a choice to make: She could either let her life be controlled by fate, or use her keen intelligence, recognize her leadership potential, and take control of her personal destiny.
Fortunately, Roxana chose the latter. By senior year she was president of both her student body and the school’s Latino Club. (Thirty percent of the Highline High School student body is Latino.) When Roxana realized that Spanish-speaking parents had no way of communicating with the school, she initiated a bilingual voice message system, and co-coordinated a crew of bilingual volunteers to translate for families and to communicate to faculty and staff.
In the spring of 2008, Roxana was nominated by her school for the American Jewish Committee’s Max Block Student Human Relations Award. Students are chosen for outstanding leadership in their school and community in improving human relations. Each nominee receives a certificate; four are selected to present speeches at an event in their honor and awarded scholarships.
Each of the past five years I have had the pleasure of coaching one scholarship recipient to compose his/her award speech. This year I chose Roxana.
I could tell she was a dynamo from our first meeting. She squeezed me in between school, volunteer tutoring, and working as a telephone research interviewer. Between sips of her Frappuccino, she told me she been accepted to the University of Washington, that her mother was her inspiration, and yes, she would complete her speech in time for the event.
Roxanna chatted about her family, her work and her aspirations: College and then law school to fulfill her personal destiny to become an immigration lawyer. She also e-mailed me three short essays to critique — application pieces, written for the College Success Foundation Leadership 1000 Scholarship. CSF assists worthy, low-income students in Washington to attend state colleges and universities. Through the Leadership 1000 Awards, the CSF matches donors with deserving students. Recipients are granted $5,000 a year for four years. Since 2000, more than 800 students have had their own personal destinies fulfilled through the Leadership 1000 Awards.
Roxanna wrote a fine speech for the AJC Block Student Awards dinner. However, she arrived at the event without the typed version. The speech she presented, from a few notes scrawled on a napkin, was so incredibly moving that much of the audience found themselves using their own napkins to wipe away tears.
Among the captivated was Deborah Rosen, an AJC board member and educator who had worked for years on the Block Awards. Deborah asked me to keep her informed regarding the progress of Roxana’s Leadership 1000 scholarship.
But Roxana’s school apparently never sent in her application. I called CSF. Three weeks later there was more bad news: The Leadership 1000 scholarships for 2008-09 had already been granted. However, I was assured that if Roxana turned in a duplicate application, they would seek a donor.
I hand-delivered the application, and contacted Deborah Rosen, who talked to a friend who had co-founded CSF.
Five days before UW freshman orientation, I received two phone messages, a text and an e-mail from Roxana: “CSF found me a match: $5,000 for four years. Thank you! Thank you!”
A week later, there was more good news. UW reconsidered her application and offered an additional $3,000 to cover the remaining loans.
It’s only December. Roxana has four years and 12 quarters of university to complete. But she is determined. After all, as my students are now reading in The Alchemist, “To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation… And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Marilyn Meyer teaches at the Northwest Yeshiva High School and serves as a member of the AJC board.