Cross-posted at My Ongoing Struggle with Misanthropy

Part I/Part II/Part III/Part IV/Part V/Part VI/Part VII

Mojada, part VIII

By Angie Sánchez

At the end of my junior year I finally realized that I was not being challenged so I asked to be placed in higher level classes for the following year.  What bothers me is that if I wouldn’t have asked for that I would’ve stayed in the same mediocre classes. I was getting bad grades. I just think I was one student in the masses. Otherwise I would have been moved up a level by sophomore year.  The counselor I was assigned in high school was probably the worst any one could ever have.  Whenever I would meet with her to choose my classes for the following semester she would never ask me what I was interested in. She would just placed me in the courses that she thought were the most appropriate for me. I never said anything to her because I felt that she knew what she was doing.

During my senior year I went into her office to make sure that I was on the right track and that there weren’t any course that I needed to complete.  During our conversation she asked me if I was planning on going to college. My answer was yes. This was the first time she had ever asked and she had been my counselor since my freshmen year.  I told her where I was planning to attend and all she did was nod her head and say, “Good for you”.  I was expecting for her to ask if I needed help with anything or if I had looked at other colleges. She said nothing.  This bothers me because I would hear my teammate’s from the soccer team say that they had appointments to meet with their counselor so that they could discuss college visits and fill out FAFSA.  As a matter of fact one of the girls in the team had the same counselor as I, but I never received the attention she did.

I understand that even if she would have offered to help me fill out the FAFSA I would not have been able to due to my status in this country but it would have been nice if she would’ve offered.  It would’ve also been nice if the guidance office provided Latino students with information on Latino scholarships regardless of your status. I have the sense that my school did not and does not care too much about this matter. Although I feel this way about my high school I know that that there are teachers who care and for that I thank them.

To be continued…

About the Author

Jimmy Gabacho

Gabacho– according to the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy– is derived from an old Provençal word “gavach,” meaning a person from the foothills of the Pyrenees who spoke incorrectly. These days, it means “outsider,” somebody who just doesn’t fit in.

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