Word from the Real World: Marcelo Triana

Weary eyes slowly creak open. Gazing at the clock, I quickly realize that I must wake up. The extensive ninety page reading that I encountered the previous night left me with undesired exhaustion. Haphazardly, I rise out of bed, get dressed and shuffle my books into my bag. Planning what to say in the class discussions, I briskly walked to class. Snatching a chair in the front of the room, I took out my laptop and books. Forty-five minutes into class, I abruptly became aware that I was one of three students contributing to the discussion. Looking back at the past four years, I understood the fact that I developed a skill that very few other students had. An International Baccalaureate education had given me the ability to master discussions and interpret readings in a complex and abstract manner. The spiel that was constantly reverberated at me, from high school administrators, about the IB curriculum helping you in college was actually correct. The pain endured during my junior and senior years were finally paying off and even worth it.
Walking to Saga, the cafeteria, I could not help but think that there are so many students unlike me. Looking left and right I see the immense lack of diversity that epitomizes colleges across the country. Never had the idea trampled across my mind that there was such a staunch difference in livelihood and ethnicity among students. Realizing the differences that make up a college’s student body, it is an environment that is not designed for the success of minorities; but those who do prosper have surmounted an incredible mountain. Only in my third week of college, I hope to achieve my bachelor’s and thrive in whatever I do in life.