An important aspect of growing up in San Antonio was the combination of a vibrant Hispanic community, my strong participation with my church and the integral role that my black family played in developing a sense of responsibility to my kin and community. I celebrated Cinco de Mayo year after year in school, participated in family birthday parties which included everyone during the festivities, and volunteered heavily in my church’s tutoring, youth choir, and youth bible study ministry. The morals, values, work ethic, pride for my community, and confidence in myself can all be traced to specific people or events in the Alamo city and I believe I can foster these traits and more in the youth of Tacoma, Washington.
The Northwest Leadership Foundation in Tacoma is a program that puts its faith first within its values just as I strive to do in my own life. When I perused the AmeriCorps site for programs which would allow me to grow and develop myself in an effort to prepare for graduate school, a spiritual based yearlong opportunity seemed a fantastic fit. I would be able to serve a community and accomplish my gap year goals in a beautiful area of my country that was new to me while growing my personal faith.Tacoma, being the third largest city in the state of Washington, is comprised of 60% Caucasian while the rest of the population includes black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and other distinct groups which all possess the same challenges that many growing urban cities of diverse communities face: low income and minority students struggling to obtain the most from their education as impoverished and minority cultures struggling for a voice in the community.
I have lived through poverty, overcrowded public schools, and the identity crisis that W.E.B. DuBois describes as a “double consciousness.” As a potential mentor and servant of the youth community in Tacoma, I hope to engage deeply with students and communities both inside and outside of my own. Developing meaningful relationships will give me the opportunity to speak positive and inspiring truth into the lives of young people the same way the Deacon from my church or the Director of the Texas State Math Camp changed my outlook and trajectory in life by believing in me. In a year, I could develop my spiritual and social leadership and gain life changing experienceswhich will go on to shape how I choose to serve other communities I go on to live in.
With all the benefits of the program, I realize that there will also be challenges. Living in an entirely new part of the country can be exciting but I will also need to be open and flexible to the new people and a different environment to what I am used to-basically I am talking about snow! Gratefully, I lived in central Illinois for almost 2 years so snow is no longer as new to me as it was growing up in south Texas. I also anticipate dealing with a Latino community and because I have studied Japanese more recently than I have studied Spanish, I fear I may be a little rusty with my command of the language. Of course, because I loved learning Spanish, I actually am looking forward tobrushing up on los palabros y mas all summer long just in case I am needed in the Tacoma Latino community. Coming from a city heavily influenced by Hispanic culture, I know how much cultural capital the Spanish language can possess. I look forward to embracing these seeming difficulties as opportunities along with the tremendous chance of a lifetime.
