Growing up I was always told to do good in school, my parents didn’t go to college so my parents alway encouraged me to do well so I will be able to go to college. So naturally, I always did my best in school and I always had good grades. In elementary school all I had to do was do good and get A’s which I did. When I entered middle school I noticed that there were kids that were in more advanced classes, I asked how they did that and they just said that it was offered to them. I didn’t realize then but all the students that were offered advanced classes were white. I was never offered to take an advanced class in middle school. 
 

It wasn’t until high school where I still wasn’t offered or recommeneded to take any honor classes and so I went to the counselors office and requested to take honors and AP. I got the classes and the next year I took them. I remember being nervous wondering if I was good enough to take them. I looked around and I was the only colored person there, that made me even more nervous. I remember in my english class I had a hard time because English was not my first language. It is now my preferred language to speak and I now speak it more, but I had a hard time writing essays or understanding all types of reading. The other kids around got everything quickly; they were able to write well written and formal essays, while I was struggling to be creative and well written in my essays. 

Not only that the other kids got along well, they all talked and were comfortable with each other, I had a hard time fitting in with them, the things they talked about were things that I didn’t know much about so I couldn’t converse with them. 

I didn’t feel like I belonged in AP or honor classes. But I pushed through and I passed all the AP and Honors classes I took and as the years passed I saw more and more students of color in AP and Honors classes fitting in and being comfortable in the classes. Not only that my siblings are now in AP and Honors classes as well along with their friends.


Coming to Hope

Coming into Hope for me was no different than being in Ap class. I’ve lived here in Holland all my life and I’ve always wanted to come to Hope. I knew that Hope was predominantly white but I was ok with it. I was however a little worried that I wouldn’t fit in and I would have a hard time finding friends. Luckily, I am in the Phelp Program, its for students of color who would have a hard transition from moving from there home to a majority white college. I moved just to be comfortable.  The first day of class was like bringing me back to my first AP/ honors class. I looked around and I was the only hispanic student in the class. In all honesty I was really intimidated by it, thankfullyI had other classes where there are other students of color. But what my mom says that encourages me very much is that I should be proud to be here, yes it's a bit intimidating but I'm here and I will succeed and I hope to be an example for other students of color to not be afraid and to be confident and proud. 

The Future

I hope in the future that students of color are more confident enough in themselves to take an AP class or honors and if they truly want to, go to college too. When I was in high school I used to ask my friends why they didn’t try to take an AP or Honors class and they just said “because i'm not white” or “it's just full of white people” or “i'm not smart enough.” And I hate to think that is how all the students feel. I am not trying to bring down white students for taking the classes at all, it's just that hispanics like to be comfortable and don’t like to try new things and tend to have excuses for why they can’t. In my family, they always try to do it the easy way or they simply didn’t have an example to follow. I didn’t and I am so glad that I was that example for my siblings and I hope other students of color decided to challenge themselves and see all the potential they have. 

I also hope that the schools also learn to see students of colors potential, I hope they see that that student is just as smart as the next kids. I hope to see that in the future people won’t look at a white student and a student of color and think one is smarter than them but they are both equally smart and they both have so much potential. And lastly, I hope that they are given the same opportunities and both achieve their goals, whatever it is. 

Hope College

When I was having a group discussion with other students in the Phelps program they did seem to have a problem with the program and the school, I’ve never seemed to notice, everyone in the building is completely separate from the other students. Yes, it made the transition to hope a little better but it was like the school just group the students of color all together and called it good. The school didn’t really do much to make it better, as a student describes it “it was like putting a bandage over a giant wound.”
In another discussion that our group had, one of the student mentioned how they had an interview with President Scogin. They said that the interview was going great until a the question "what are you trying to do to make the student of color feel more welcomed, and how is he and the school trying to make the school more diverse." and what the president said what "well you have the information of the school and the stats on the website, so you should have known what you were coming into." Although that is a very good point I think its disappointing that there wasn't really an answer to how they were planning to improve the school.