To New Beginnings!

To New Beginnings!

 

To New Beginnings...

Elaine wanted to be a coroner.  She talked about it; she dreamed of the day when she could solve the problems of the world by uncovering medical truths through autopsy. She was so enthusiastic and persistent that we created a one-person field trip for her to meet the county coroner.

Elaine had one little obstacle keeping her from reaching her dream; she struggled to earn C’s in science and math. When she graduated, I helped her with her college applications. I had to tell her that if she truly wanted medicine as a career, she would have to go to a community college to build her math and science skills before entering the university as a Biological Sciences major. She did....

As I counseled Elaine, I consulted Harvey Williams, then director of Medical School Admissions at the University of California, Irvine.  I asked Harvey when we need to tell a student they're not going to make it; they need to pursue other dreams. Harvey, as always, gave me wise advice:

"You never have that right. 
You tell them what they will have to do.
The choice is always theirs."

Harvey knows about new beginnings.  When Harvey Williams was nine years old, he and his family were accosted by members of the Ku Klux Klan.  They fled in the middle of the night, with horse and buggy carrying all their earthly possessions.  At age thirteen, Harvey Williams started school and flunked algebra –– three times!  Today, Harvey Williams holds three Ph.D's. He recently retired as Director of Admissions for the College of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine.

Harvey is one person I know who might logically hate me because of the color of my skin, but he doesn't seem to have a hate bone in his body. He is at peace with his past. It's sad. Racism is real, but we choose our reactions. Harvey has chosen to make the world a better place.

In SCORE, one of our slogans says "Never put a lid on a kid." Students will have problems as they negotiate life. They will periodically do less than they are capable of doing. They will sometimes make unwise decisions that affect them for their rest of their lives. Our role is to help them see that they have choices. In the words of Zig Ziglar, "Failure is an event; it is not a person."

How did Elaine fare? Last time I saw her, she had completed community college...taken a little detour to have a baby...and entered the University of California, Irvine, majoring in Biology!

"You tell them what they have to do. The choice is always theirs." Thanks again, Harvey.