Poetry Takeover Prepares Students for College Applications
CoolSpeak returned to Utah for a classroom takeover with 1,800 GEAR UP 11th-grade students in attendance. Students learned how to write poetry about themselves. Presenters also engaged students by sharing their personal stories and advice on writing winning scholarships and college application essays.
The CoolSpeak team focused on helping students write and present poetry about themselves.
Presenters engaged students by sharing their personal stories and experiences.
Students learned to find and use their personal stories in scholarship and college application essays.
GEAR UP schools in the Granite School District were energized by the return of the CoolSpeak team as a follow-up to Carlos “Chu” Ojeda Jr., CoolSpeak founder and CEO's visit last fall. Ojeda presented a motivational speech to over 3,300 11th-graders at five high schools. Many students were moved by his personal story and encouragement to set goals for themselves and their futures.
Students looked forward to CoolSpeak's return in March and loved Ojeda’s talk. To keep the momentum going, GEAR UP staff gave away water bottles with motivational messages from CoolSpeak’s first visit, reminding students of the return of the team.
When CoolSpeak returned, they changed their message and method and came with three speakers who spoke directly to classrooms during the week of March 13-16. Presenters Natasha Carrizosa, Marlon Lizama, and Joaquin Zihuatanejo met with 1,800 11th-grade GEAR UP students in classes at Granger, Hunter, Cottonwood, Taylorsville, and Kearns high schools.
“I learned that everybody has their story,” said a student participant, adding that “I learned what is needed in an essay and how to make it good.” The CoolSpeak team connected with students so fully that another student said that the presentation "made me not want to be on my phone" and "really liked what he shared and what he had us do."
As a warm-up exercise, the team focused on helping students write poetry about themselves. They also provided information on how to write winning scholarships and college application essays. Presenters engaged students by sharing their personal stories and experiences about growing up in less-than-ideal circumstances. These stories demonstrated how they overcame serious obstacles and trials in the pursuit of their education and advanced degrees.
Below is the winning poem, written by a Hunter High School GEAR UP student in 8 minutes.
Where I'm From
Where I’m from, the color of my skin takes away from the content of my character.
Where I’m from, it feels like I am locked in a golden cage, viewed as golden and privileged, but a cage none the less to me.
Where I’m from, it sounds like religion is being shoved down my throat, as I am encouraged to release my roots.
Where I’m from, family is who I’ve made them out to be, family are the people who look like me.
Where I’m from, life is slow but somehow still hectic.
Where I’m from, love is a community coming together but only at the expense of a tragedy.
Where I’m from, I’m too Mexican to be American, but too Americanized to be Mexican.
Where I’m from we dream of unity and equality, preaching liberty and justice but feeling anything but justified.
Where I’m from, it feels like education is the way out, but everyone seems to find a way out of the education.