Do you remember that old adage that went something to the tune of, “Don't ever forget where you came from otherwise you'll never remember where you're going”? I have been reflecting on that quote a lot lately. All of these changes in our lives have given us a lot of time to reflect on just how unbelievable it is that we are living in another country while studying for our Graduate Degrees! I mean, how the hell did two poor, first-generation kids from Rice Lake Wisconsin end up studying in England? Well, I will tell you a little secret...we were given a gift among the greatest gifts that have ever been given. It was the gift of opportunity.
Nope, we are not those arrogant and conceded people that will try to tell you we did it all on our own. We received this very critical gift from the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program. A program for traditionally unrepresented students to become researchers and to ultimately became Msc's or PhD's. The McNair Scholars Program was made in honor of Ronald E. McNair, an African-American physicist/astronaut who was killed in the Challenger explosion. Ronald McNair himself faced growing up in an impoverished area in South Carolina, as well as social and economic barriers. But, he knew how to work hard, he was diligent in College until he achieved his goal of attaining his Ph.D. From Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Much like Trevor and I, the man was up to almost impossible odds, but because of the McNair program we have been given the training in professionalism, coaching in confidence, and skills necessary to produce research to pursue a degree traditionally meant for those who came from families with money.
I can still recall how our McNair advisor pushed us and how I thought it was just a total mistake that I had gotten into the program at all. I always felt as though I was pretending to be someone that I just wasn't. It's just so much easier to believe for some reason you are the exception, or the one that slipped through the cracks. It was so easy to feel like an imposter in a world full of these amazing intellectuals and academics. I always remember my McNair Director telling me, you “fake it until you make it”, and I never had really fully understood what that meant until the day I realized that I had made it. That day was the day that I received two offers for a place in Masters Degree Programs in England.
McNair sent us both on summer internships while in undergraduate. I went to Idaho to study Steelhead Kelt, and Trevor went to both the prestigious Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee to study black holes, as well as the University of Worcester to study game implementation in education. McNair helped us find these experiences, apply to them, write essays for them, and gave us continuing support throughout them. McNair helped us foot the bills on plane tickets and living expenses while the Universities would also pay us for our work which greatly helped us pay for our rent and tuition when the school year began again. They again helped us with all the application materials to graduate school, reviewing our essays countless times, paying for bills for us to go to educational conferences to develop ourselves and our resumes.
Today I wanted to write and tell my story for others to hear in the face of major budget cuts to these TRIO programs like McNair that have so dramatically changed our lives. I would like to ask all my family and friends to sign the petition because you all know that this program can change lives. Please just take a minute to sign the petition on this link... http://www.change.org/petitions/members-of-congress-and-secretary-of-education-arne-duncan-don-t-eliminate-75-mcnair-programs# . It only takes 30 seconds to enter your name and address and click submit...and if you feel ambitious you can write a reason why you believe this program should not have budget cuts and feel free to discuss us. Trevor and I are also proud of Tanner Tomesh (Trevor's little brother) for being accepted into the program and we would really like to keep this funding around for him to continue receiving the full benefits of being a McNair Scholar. Thank you all!
