EHSA News
Essays from the two Stella and Emmanuel Marvidis scholarship winners
The English High School Alumni Association is proud to present the following two essays, written by the recipients of the Stella and Emmanuel Marvidis Scholarship. These outstanding students earned this scholarship through their academic achievement, dedication, and thoughtful reflections. The Alumni and Friends Tutoring Center was instrumental in helping these students develop and refine these exceptional works, providing the guidance and support that enabled their ideas and talents to flourish. We congratulate both scholarship recipients on this well-deserved honor and are pleased to share their inspiring essays with our alumni community.
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A Baby Again
By Daniel Mendoza
As a child I moved from the Dominican Republic to the United States in 2022, exactly on my father’s birthday, September 17th. I remember sobbing like a baby, my arms around my mother’s and father’s necks became heavy and sticky, my face turned red, my parents were desperate with their eyes looking down. Yet thinking of my future my father told me, “Se que duele pero tu futuro es nuestro futuro,” I know it is painful but your future is our future. Those words made my heart become as fast as a cheetah and tough as a big rock. Those words gave me hope. Despite the hardship I had seen in my mother’s life due to the terrible work opportunities in the Dominican Republic, I understood that I would have something better. My parents were letting me leave to build my future.
At first when I came to live with my sister it was like starting as a baby again. She was much older than me and very strict. I didn’t know how I could talk with her in a way that wouldn’t make her mad or stressed. Having to adapt to living with someone I barely knew was frustrating. I was nowhere. I had no Mom, no Dad, no Grandma, no Grandpa. No friends. No music. Not even language.
Learning how to speak not just at home but outside was a big barrier I had to overcome, it was the only way I could communicate with people my age and most times, with teachers at school. In grade 9 when I started school my teachers became my parents and friends, and school became my refuge, a place where I started to find important relationships. My history teacher would always stay with me after school chatting with me or helping me with class work. Every time there was a field trip, she would ask my sister for permission for me to go.
In grade 10, I joined the JROTC program and started to develop my thinking, reading, leadership, self-esteem, and physical skills by doing tasks like reading books, playing class games, performing drill competitions and fitness competitions. I helped special needs kids from all over Boston in an event called “Special Olympics” in which a big group of our JROTC cadets got selected to go to The White Stadium to help with games and perform a Colorguard Drill presentation. Since then, at the end of each year I have gone to camps, where I am part of a group representing our school, forcing me to develop and demonstrate my leadership skills by leading tasks and making new team mates.
On February 25, 2023, 3 days after my birthday and the beginning of my second complete year in the United States, I became a boyfriend. It changed my life for the better because when I became a boyfriend, my school grades went up from the dust to the sky just like the Phoenix. I started to do all the assignments that were given to me, I wanted to not just impress my girlfriend but show her that she was also capable of doing better. I wasn’t the only one having hard times, she was also going through obstacles, so for me the best way of helping ourselves was working hard and supporting each other.
The first time I was a baby, I was raised by my parents who taught and protected me. The second time I was a baby, I was raised by myself, helping myself, pushing myself through the obstacles. From raising myself, I have learned that giving up is not an option, building good relationships matters, and hard work creates opportunities.
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Beyond the Single Story
by Gabriela Ramos
My AP English teacher recently noted that our statistics label us as “chronically absent” and “ineffective.” First impressions matter, yet assumptions spread like wildfire. I am a proud member of English High School, and I refuse to let a single lens paint our entire community. I realized early on that changing the “Single Story” of my school required me not only to be a successful student but also to be a bridge for those who came after me. I have dedicated my Senior year to prove that our motto, “Service to Mankind is Honor and Achievement,” is a reality, not just words on a statue.
I chose to lead by example through placements I secured at Greenwood Shalom and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, using my performance to deconstruct the “Single Story” told of my school. At Greenwood Shalom, I became EEC Essentials 2.0 certified (After-School and Out-of-School Educators). In addition, I received a certificate of completion from the Brigham and Women’s Youth Summer Program. Between providing conflict resolution for youth and managing sensitive medical data, I replaced the narrative “risk” with one of “dedication” by consistently delivering exemplary work. These experiences were not merely to build my resume but to prove to these institutions that English High students are prepared to succeed in professional spaces, if given the opportunity.
My impact occurred when I entered these very same spaces that historically declined my peers, breaking the statistical chains that define us. In her TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “…when we reject the single story… we regain a kind of paradise.” This was not just a personal win, but an act of leadership and counter-narrative to the labels placed, proving that assumptions and past reputations do not dictate our capability. I realized that my performance changed the single lens of my school, and a huge difference was made; more spots began opening up for English High students in these prestigious programs. From this, I have learned that leadership is ensuring you are not the only one to make it through the door: “No Man Left Behind.” By understanding that “Service to Mankind” actively clears a path for my peers, I am ensuring the next generation of English High students are not viewed as a “risk,” but as the valuable investment we have always been.
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