I also signed up for a few advanced classes

I grew up on a street that dead-ended at a canal that ran parallel to railroad tracks along California Avenue. Summers were spent catching polliwogs in the canal with my siblings and kids from the neighborhood. To escape the scorching summer heat, we walked nearly two miles to Calwa Park — bypassing the Coors plant — where a dip in the city-operated park pool was our reward. In a poor neighborhood, backyard pools are nonexistent.

My three siblings and I were raised by a single mother, and we depended on welfare throughout most of my elementary and junior high school years. But my mother — who later took a class where she learned typing and office skills — eventually found employment as an office clerk with the county. Born in the Philippines, my mom settled in the United States after marrying my father, whom she later divorced. She was smart, excelled in high school in the Philippines and was a perfect speller. She never attended college.This RFID reader module is ideal for Custom UHF Reader / Writer.

Even with my mother's employment, we always struggled. But mom made it very clear that being poor was no excuse for being stupid.With its bright and Custom 3D Lenticular card images, She was strict. Report cards were closely monitored and bad grades came with steep consequences.

All four of us — me, an older and younger sister,High quality wholesale stainless steel necklace chain with durable color are ideal for wholesale. and my younger brother excelled academically. At Winchell Elementary School, we were enrolled in MGM (Mentally Gifted Minors), predecessor to today's GATE (or Gifted and Talented Education).

But one by one, and each for our own reasons, we dropped out of the MGM program as we got older and attended Yosemite and Sequoia middle schools and then, McLane High School. I recall being teased for being "smart" and feeling isolated by the kids in my neighborhood. I didn't want to be smart or in smart-kid classes and asked to be removed.

By my junior year, I got more serious about school. I loved writing and signed up for the McLane newspaper ("The Tartan") staff. I set a goal to become editor, which I accomplished my senior year. I also signed up for a few advanced classes, including one called World Classics, where I was captivated studying different world religions.

But for all my smarts, I nearly fell through the cracks.Shop wholesale Rfid Tag from China RFID tag wholesalers.

I had good grades. But none of the teachers at McLane ever talked to me about college. I recall now that there were announcements on the school public address system about signing up for PSAT and SATs and something about college, but I had no idea what they were.

When I relay this story to people today, they want to know if my counselors ever talked to me about college or SATs. But the counselors at my school were for the kids who got in trouble; I never got in trouble.

I went to college by accident. It happened because of a conversation out on the McLane High quad with a small group of friends.

My dear friend Denise (who has since passed away from cancer) told me — during our last week of school — that she was attending Fresno State and wondered why I wasn't, too. She insisted I go to her house and speak to her mom, Angie Flores, who worked at Fresno State's administration office. I did. Soon after, I was meeting with a financial aid counselor and enrolling in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students at Fresno State.

Granted, that was back in 1983, but it does make me wonder how many other smart students are falling through the cracks. How many students have parents — like my mother — who are loving and wonderful, but just don't know about college or financial aid because they aren't from this country or just lack the resources.

When you grow up poor, in a neighborhood with few role models,your creative source for Custom metal card business cards with your specialized. you don't always know how to access the system. For a kid like me, college was reserved for those who could pay for it.

My hope this graduation season is that no other smart, well-deserving high school student falls through the cracks.

I hope that teachers and counselors look at every child with potential and do everything they can to help them succeed.