Support: Why we have it and where do we get it from?

Growing up, I always had an older sister looking out for me. And she still has been for 17 years and counting. We were the lone wolves in the house, but we knew how to pass the time. My older sister loved to play teacher with me and taught me how to read and write. Because of her, I would have to attribute her as the start of my educational career, but nevertheless, not forget who actually started the motive for us to be involved in education. From an early age, my parents brought us to the local library to check out books, and if we read them, we would be treated with a weekly movie from Blockbusters (the outdated Netflix). This was the support I had to lean on from an early age: an older sister in grade school, a mother working for her MD, a father working to supply for the rest of the income, and a treat from Blockbusters. It feels as if it was only yesterday and we were checking out Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior.

“When I was a boy, I had to help my mother on the farm at dark” my father would recount about his life. He lived the more rural lower-class style. My mother, on the other hand, was living in a more rural middle-class family style in Cameroon. She lived with the intention to make a life better than what was intended for her. What should be noted is that these two individuals had the opportunity to go through school. Many of their siblings choose not to participate in continuing their education, but my mother and father deterred from that path due to support. The support they had from their parents, and the support they had in the schools. How does that translate here to my life? My support comes from: My religion, my family, my teachers, my peers, and my community. Where did I get this from? Opening and closing many gates of interaction. I am fortunate to maintain all 5 of these outlets, and because of this, it has attributed to my success in life. Who you know and when you know them plays a big role in the impact you can make for the next generation or even the one that preceded you. I feel like making it “big” in America is not a large task with those able to give you the pieces of a foundation they have already established. Hence the reason why some schools would admit a high percentage amount of legacy students as a way of giving back to donors, and why there is a difference in the names of Founder and CEO ( one that established it and the other is for the person who will continue to run it to success). Support is instrumental to help drive someone to succeed, and important to remind someone what they are doing and the reason why they do it.

— Gabriela Nguena Jones