As a former dual athlete at Staten Island Technical High School who drove up to a tournament in Lake Placid before all the Christmas gifts were opened, I can attest that the school incorporates the “No Days Off” mantra into its athletic program. While various titles the school has earned in athletics showcase this, most recently including PSAL Championships in outdoor Track and Field, the public fails to recognize the grueling hours these well-rounded students pour into the classroom.
Four years ago, when that June 28th 9th period bell rang, I power walked to the S79, and gave my AP American History books a special section next to my Regents Physics books in the corner of my room under a pile of laundry. I had a senior year of College Russian, AP Physics, AP Global, AP Statistics, and college rejections to look forward to in the fall, so I planned to spend as much time away from my books as possible before all hell broke loose in September. You can imagine my surprise when I stood in the front of the library four years later, on July 11, and watched the students pour in, sit down, and take our their notebooks. I don’t know if I was more surprised about them showing up, or about my former principal giving me students. Nonetheless, I was in awe.
People seem to ask, “What is it about those Tech students?” “How are they getting accepted by top-notch universities?” “What do they have that my child doesn’t?” There is no secret, nor is there a genetic malfunction that gives these students the rankings, test scores, and acceptance letters, but rather the time and effort they pour continuously into their work, even after June 28th.
The Student Youth Employment Program set up a class setting for eager and eligible students to begin working on their college applications, interviews, and essays with the help of teachers, faculty, guest speakers, peers, and interns, like myself. The program runs school hours from Monday through Friday, and includes college visits in addiction to the application process. Students are given the time to work on the nuanced pieces of their applications that tend to get overshadowed by AP exams, homework, and extra curricular activities in the fall.
While people of the five boroughs seem to think that Tech students are a breed of their own, building robots and cracking jokes about American History, the students earning 100+ averages on their report cards, driving around with M.I.T. bumper stickers, and dominating the 1500 meter race are not mutations of Albert Einstein, nor do they carry the genes of Steve Jobs. They are simply the kids who continue to be students when that June 28th ninth period bell rings.
I wasn’t aware of the abundance of opportunity I received at Tech until I was three years out. The Russian classes, the AP courses, and the close-knit environment all seemed normal. My college scholarship was “luck,” and my grades were “natural,” like people seemed to say. But as I stood before eighteen students who sat where I did four short years ago, I could acknowledge that it is not natural intelligence, luck, or genetics that make these students who they are, but rather the tenacity, collaboration, and diligence that the school encourages and creates.
I’m excited to see what they come up with next.
