Overcoming obstacles makes these stars shine

Delia Ramirez is swinging on a star. The St. Gregory High School senior is about to fulfill her dream of graduating from high school and doing it on time. She even has plans for college.

	The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago like to boast that they provide more than an education, that they build better citizens because of the values that are inherently part of a Catholic school. This issue of The Catholic New World honors valedictorians for their scholastic achievements. But our schools are filled with other stories—“star” stories—of students who have overcome obstacles in life, and who have set their focus clearly on the future. Catholic New World special contributor Hilary Anderson tells the stories of four such “stars,” representative, certainly, of many more in our schools.

A year ago such a goal seemed light years away. Some thought she would never achieve it and even told her so. There were seemingly insurmountable challenges facing Ramirez. But like several of her graduating peers, she climbed around the obstacles.

The first challenge was coping with daily life. Ramirez lives in an area where sometimes it is almost a constant struggle just to stay alive and out of trouble.

“I’ve seen it all,” said Ramirez. “Many kids I knew were on drugs, in jail or having babies. Some were dropouts. Others in gangs. Still others were prostituting.”

Ramirez was doing poorly in school. She was about to drop out of the Chicago public high school she had attended for almost three years.

“People didn’t believe in me,” said Ramirez. “I was told since my freshman year, ‘You never are going to get anywhere.’ There was a point in my junior year I wanted to drop out.”

Then something nice happened. She says it is nothing short of a miracle. A friend recommended her to the San Marcos Youth Ministry. The organization intervened and mentored Ramirez. They encouraged her to switch to St. Gregory and even offered a scholarship. She did not want to leave her friends but the offer was tempting.

“I even started my senior year at my old school,” said Ramirez. “But three or four days before St. Gregory’s was to start, I transferred.”

From the start, she said, she knew she had made the right decision.

“The people here are friendly,” said Ramirez. “They helped me. I have learned so much. They showed me I was a good writer. I want to prove to all of the people who made fun of me, who didn’t believe in me that I am going to be the best I can be.”

So far Ramirez has lived true to her conviction.

This spring semester Ramirez became a straight-A student, something unimaginable even a year ago. She is involved in extracurricular activities as a member of the Future Teachers Club, the prom committee and on the yearbook staff. She also tutors other young people and works in a homeless shelter. This summer, she hopes to visit Russia with her youth ministry group and do volunteer work in an orphanage.

Ramirez is making no small plans. Her current dream is to finish college and go to law school. She has been to Northeastern University’s new program for Latinos, Projecto Pa Lante. “My mom used to cry when she saw my report cards or heard from teachers,” said Ramirez. “Now my mom is real proud of me. That makes me so happy!”

“From the first day at St. Gregory’s I said my life is going to change,” she added. “It has. I tell others that
if you believe in yourself you can
do anything.”

Patrick Wood is legally blind but that has not kept him from being in the top 10 of his Marian Catholic High School graduating class. Nor has it prevented him from taking 24 hours of college-level advanced placement courses like macro- and micro-economics, Spanish, history, English, literature and psychology. Wood even took on the challenge of analytic geometry.

“I could have dropped it after the first semester but chose not to,” said Wood.
“I have a certain pride and won’t accept failure
in academics.”

To help, Wood’s textbooks were put on tape or translated into Braille. He has a traveling teacher who helps with some lessons but credits his regular teachers with making it possible to keep up with classmates. He says their help goes far beyond the duties of a teacher. “They provide lesson plans and class work far ahead of the normal schedule so they can be put on tape or translated into Braille for me,” said Wood.

“My Spanish teacher, Nancy Holmes, recorded all the vocabulary and dialogue onto tape. Leo Cleary, my government teacher, sat and read the long list of definitions. He gave me my semester exam orally. I am so lucky to have the teachers who are here at Marian.”

Wood enjoys boxing, particularly matches involving his hero, Felix Trinidad.

“Boxers are similar to my life story,” he said. “They had to go through grueling training and even if they got hurt, they had the opportunity for victory. My life has had difficult times but I always know that I’ll remain undaunted by the challenges.”

He said, “I think the only true motivator is yourself.”

Wood plans to attend law school, become a judge and raise a family.

Marc Tizura is an extrovert. There is no doubt why the engaging St. Gregory senior plans to become an actor. He has the smile, the voice, the stage presence and the determination to succeed.

What most people do not know about Tizura is that he has a learning disability. Understanding the class work and achieving good grades was always a challenge for him. Then he entered St. Gregory’s Learning Resource Program (LRP).

“They helped me read and write papers,” said Tizura. “If I see something written, I have a hard time understanding it, but if I hear the material, I can comprehend it better.”

The assistance of the LRP program, along with Tizura’s determination, have helped him achieve a place on the “A” Honor Roll and membership in the National Honor Society. He also is a member of the school’s yearbook staff and Spirit Club.

Tizura’s interest in the arts led him to apply and be accepted into the performing arts program at Chicago’s Columbia College.

He has advice for anyone facing the challenge of a learning disability: “Don’t give up so fast. There is help out there. Find the way of learning that’s best for you. Don’t give up.”