This university student tells about the teachers he had when he was younger, who helped him appreciate education and succeed. Too many kids drop out of high school, they need more teachers like he had, obviously. DP
Cal State student credits teachers in middle school and high school for setting him on a path to academic success.
By MIMI KO CRUZ, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Hector Ramos was the first in his family to graduate from high school and attend college. By next winter, he plans to have completed a Cal State Fullerton bachelor's degree in three majors – philosophy, psychology and political science.
As a child, Ramos wasn't expected and didn't have aspirations to reach for such goals. His mother, an immigrant from Mexico, usually worked two jobs while raising Ramos and his two younger brothers. Before she became a naturalized citizen, she often went unpaid after fleeing from her garment factory jobs because of immigration raids. The family was poor and lived in overcrowded apartments in a part of Santa Ana where gangs, crime and drugs were neighborhood staples.
But Ramos liked to learn, and though he sometimes ditched classes to party with his friends, and his grades fluctuated wildly, he managed to get into honors classes. It was a middle school English teacher's words that compelled him to get serious about school.
In the fall, Ramos received the William Randolph Hearst/CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement. He was selected for the award, which includes a $10,000 scholarship, for his "superior academic performance and exemplary personal accomplishments."
The 23-year-old senior said education has been the key to beating the odds. Studies have shown that the poor in America are less likely to get college degrees. In 2003, 8.6 percent of the nation's poorest young adults earned bachelor's degrees by age 24, according to Postsecondary Education Opportunity, a higher education research group.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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