THE CONTRAST

I was given the gift of not being born into a family with much financial prosperity. There is a sense of gratitude and appreciation acquired in growing up knowing the value of a dollar, in being raised in a nine-hundred-square-foot home, and, most importantly, in indulging in comforting meals made with what's left in the pantry. Despite my family's prior financial stance, my mother and father made every effort possible to provide for my sister and me, ensuring that we would be given a life with many more opportunities to strive and succeed than they were given at our age. One of the many ways in which my parents made these efforts was in providing my sister and me with a private-school education.

From preschool through the eighth grade, I attended a school in an impecunious suburb on the Southern California grid. Though the establishment was very limited on funds and teaching and recreational equipment, it served as a very valuable lesson-provider in my life. Unfortunately, I cannot recall any significant information I had retained in the classrooms at my elementary school that had derived from textbooks or focused lectures, apart from the essential alphabet lessons and algebraic equations. However, the lessons I learned and have taken from my many years at this school were of those experienced outside the classroom.

We all face widespread discrimination and directed prejudice at various points in our lives, and I was fortunate enough to experience such encounters at an early age. Quite contrary to what we normally see in our world today, I was often discriminated against for my fairness in color because I was seen as a minority in an environment that was primarily attended by darker skinned Hispanics. Along with the racial and the superficial prejudices, many of my peers — myself included — were often discriminated against for the amount of money our parents made - something that should not hold much importance in the personal life of a child and his societal relationships.

One would not think that there would be any sort of financial discrimination in an impoverished educational setting amongst lower income students, but the crass truth stood that if you had but a dollar less than the student beside you, you were immediately viewed as a lesser. I took the discomfort and uneasiness of this particular section of my childhood to motivate me in believing in something greater; believing in something, someplace, where I could grow as an individual without the restraints of such a hindering, and sometimes toxic environment.

As I neared the seventh grade, it was time to start considering where I was to attend high school. I had relative attending a rather prestigious school in an outlying, affluent community not more than a half hour's drive from where I had lived at the time. I immediately took interest in the school. I saw an opportunity to experience what I had been yearning for, and what I had known I was not only capable of accomplishing but also deserving. It would be an environment where I would be provided with an opportunity to excel academically without the restraints and lack of resources of my elementary school. I inquired as much about the school as I could and often visited, which enabled me to visualize attending the establishment in my near future. My goal was viewed as far-fetched and out of reach by many who were anything but encouraging. I, however, persevered in catapulting myself toward the academic environment I knew I was deserving and worthy of experiencing.

Through years of academic diligence, I found myself sitting in the front of the classroom at the high school where I had aspired to be — my very real, very tangible manifestation of what was once seen as a far-fetched dream. The shift of environment did not stop in the shiny new campus and the state-of-the-art technology found in the classrooms but continued in the energy I recognized in the students and faculty themselves. I immediately found myself in a place of encouragement and of helping others succeed. I do not remember experiencing any sort of competition or "survival of the fittest" notions in my new location but a sheltered and loving place where I felt I could be myself and be loved for it, and where succeeding in whatever I put my mind to was always encouraged.

My alma mater was a college-preparatory school, and it was not considered unusual for a fourteen-year-old freshman to have where he or she would attend university accurately figured out. I remember walking into my academic counselor's office one morning to discuss my class schedule when a poster advertising a university in London caught my attention. I had family who lived abroad and the idea of being an addition to the list of relatives who had either made their excursions across the pond or had originated there had always been very appealing to me. From that moment on, I held this particular university as my utmost priority and next goal to bring forth into manifestation. I often held the image of living in London in my mind and kept replaying the mental motion of walking through the city streets as award-winning films and novels made them out to be. I felt excited yet calm every time I gave this goal attention; I knew it would happen, and I knew I would be as happy when it happened as I was when I was mentally and emotionally preparing for it.

When it came time to formally discuss with academic counselors and teachers about university in my later years, I was often called a "dreamer" and specifically remember being laughed at as if my goal was again seen as unreachable or senseless. I remained focused on the end result, again believing in something greater, and soon thereafter found myself seated onboard a British Airways Boeing 777 en route to London. I had a scholarship to the very university in London that I had envisioned attending years before.

Upon arriving in the United Kingdom, I was overwhelmed with heightened joy and gratitude. London was pleasingly everything I had imagined it to be and so much more. Coming from a very relaxed Southern California environment and inherited lifestyle, the grandiosity and business of the city were satisfyingly refreshing. There was always something to do, the sense of fashion was outstanding, and the magnitude of British accents was very entertaining. The overall lifestyle of Londoners is one I would recommend to be experienced by everyone.

After a week of sightseeing and adventuring around the city, it was finally time to transition from my hotel room to my dorm at university. I was immediately overjoyed with the historic campus and the diversity of the students. Attending a university in arguably the world's most culturally diverse city meant making friendships with people from near and wide. Finally being able to experience this reality in the flesh, after so many years of dreaming and anticipating, sometimes brought tears to my eyes in bliss of seeing it finally...