# 108
“Promising Senior”
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
March 15, 2012
Every once in a while, you come across a youngster who floors you with enthusiasm, verve and ability. So it was when my husband and I sat at a small ice creamery in Florida while our Newfie enjoyed a tiny dish of vanilla.
Many folks stop to see our Bear. His size attracts attention, to say the least; but, through him, we have met more people than we ever would have had we traveled alone.
The slim girl, accompanied by her mother, had purchased a newspaper and began to walk to the car when she spotted the dog. Marissa came for Bear like a moth to a flame and we began to chat with her. She had aced her national math tests as a freshman and won a laptop computer for her deft knowledge. Now, as a senior, she worked part time at the ice cream shop and pondered the hurdles of paying for college.
Admitted to South Florida at Tampa, she has a plethora of careers available to her, among them engineering. Excuse me if I climb atop my soapbox again, but I feel the urge.
Every day we American taxpayers foot the bill for illegals — education, English as a second language for Pete’s sake, and health care. More than that, our charities and churches spend millions of dollars on those folks, too. That money would better serve society if it were channeled to deserving, entrepreneurial young people.
American business is under attack daily. Instead of increasing taxes on employers, why not enable them to offer partial or full-ride scholarships to bright young high school seniors seeking a good job?
Co-op collegiate work is not new. Neither are scholarships. Yet, I wonder just how many companies actually participate in these programs. It would be interesting to see if there are more of these programs today or fewer than in past years.
Getting back to Marissa. She is valuable to each of us. Her work could produce a new product or refine an existing one to better our lives and the nation as a whole. Not all of us are able to help send someone to school, but some of us are. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than seeing a graduate landing that first job with no college debt.
As for me, I plan to contact several young women engineers and explore the possibility of sponsorship for Marissa. Surely, there is a company out there that would be interested in helping her.
I don’t have an answer yet. For now, I vow to immerse myself in a quest for her. She will be the first college graduate in her family, and I want to help her achieve that goal. If any of you readers have any ideas for her, let me know. I can contact her.