Money and dreams

[What follows is the text of part of a letter that Dr. Janet Morrison sent to the Sowell Scholarship Selection Committee as the group decided on this semester's award recipients.  I found it moving and so indicative of what chldren from low-income families face as they attempt to better their lives. We need to work harder to protect funding for students who are ready and willing to work hard on their education.  LJ]

Hello everyone~

I'm a little behind on getting scholarship info out to you this semester. As most of you know, I am now working with the Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation. I am the director of their Eagle Scholars college readiness program where 150 students are enrolled in the program. E

Each year teachers at Tasby middle school choose 30 out-going 6th graders to be in the Eagle Scholars. We stick with those 30 kids year after year until they graduate. This is our first year of high school seniors.

I have been meeting with individual families and have met with about 15 so far. It amazes me that anyone could ever claim that poor people don't value education. I wish everyone could see the emotion as parents and their children tear up when they talk about their biggest fear is that they will not be able to fulfill their dreams.

When I ask why they wouldn't be able to, it is always because of money.

Last night I watched a 7th grader tear up over this same concern. I don't think she had ever expressed that concern and stress to her mom. I could tell it shocked and greatly concerned the mom that her daughter was already so concerned about their money situation. Her mom immediately tried to console her and tell her that they would ask friends and family for favors and would find a way to make sure she could go to college and fulfill her dream.

I can almost guarantee you that the applicants for the fall will be much greater in number since I now have contact with many more seniors who will be looking for assistance. Since the Eagle Scholars stick with the program over 5 years, they are absolutely amazing and dedicated students with their only fault being that they are poor and can't afford college. I'm glad we have this scholarship that I will be able to tell them about.

Another important piece of information...Nazareth [the scholarship applicant] is asking for $3,000 this time. She is doing great at UT and has now declared Biology and pre-med as her major. She has switched a couple of times from Education to Engineering to (now) Biology. Her dad has requested that this be her last declaration.

Knowing Nazareth, I know she is determined and responsible. She has looked into the program to make sure she can still graduate on time (which she will). She said the students received a letter from UT stating that due to government cuts the amount of financial aid they are able to receive has been cut. She was very concerned about this. She has the maximum amount of Stafford loans but does not want to take out Parent Plus loans because she does not want to burden her parents with the potential debt if she cannot get a job in this economy. Instead, she has been working relentlessly with the UT Financial Aid department to find as many other grants as possible. Because of her hard work and persistence...I would recommend that she receives the complete $3,000...but I am open to any suggestions from the committee.

Thanks so much for being a part of this important act of helping kids fulfill their dreams.

Janet

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Check this out. . .

Working in inner city communities among "the poor" makes one aware of the huge and widening gap that exists between people of privilege and people of disadvantage.

Clearly, we all love reading success stories of those relatively few individuals who make it across, who get out.

But success stories that are told because they are so exceptional, so unique, don't change the fundamentals of the reality. In fact, they prove it up by their very existence.

Check out what follows. One message here is certain: the challenges and the disparities will continue to grow worse.

Solutions?

Jesse and Immigration Court

So, I met another wonderful teenager while I was in immigration court with Monica last week.

Jesse.

Graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas.

A very good young man.

High, high "moral character." Never in trouble of any kind.

Wonderful work ethic.

Great grades. Received an offer for a scholarship, but because he did not have a Social Security number, he didn't take the free ride to school, even though he wanted to.

"Since I don't have a Social Security number, I didn't think a degree would do me any good," he told me by phone when we talked later last week. "Why worry about college if I can't get a good job when I am done?"

Good thinking, Jesse.

So, the nation needs smart, bi-lingual laborers in every industry. So much so that we are recruiting in a number of Central and South American countries. But, in our brilliance, we are going to toss out kids who grew up here from the time they were babies and go recruit people we don't even know and in whom we have not invested a dime.

How utterly stupid!

Go ahead, Wyatt (that's my grandson). Put me in "time out."

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

We've found another great friend in this young man, and we will stick with him.

We are going to keep working to change the law that says he must go back to a nation he does not even know, one that he has never known. A very bad law that attempts to punish a very good young man.

Come meet Jesse and then, try to walk away from him.

I dare you!

Monica

We were back in federal immigration court again yesterday. This time with Monica. [Read her complete story from my archives by typing "Monica" in my search line above.]

The judge granted a continuance until November 28, 2007.

So, we have some time to continue our work to see the "Dream Act" passed in the U. S. Congress.

If you don't know about this very positive piece of legislation, search this site. Then, go deeper by doing a Google search.

When you are convinced it is a great idea, please write your two U. S. Senators and your U. S. Representative in support of the legislation that would provide documentation for young people who have been in this country since they were children and who desire to continue their education in college or join the U. S. Armed Forces.

The fact is, the passage of the Dream Act is likely the only legal relief that Moncia and others like her could discover.

Please care enough to investigate and to act, today!