Personal Statement, the Movie-

 



Starting off this Fall semester at CCSF's Student Equity Support Strategies, with Emmy award nominated full feature length documentary -"PERSONAL STATEMENT", that follows the lives of three high school seniors from marginalized communities on their journey of getting into college and obstacles they encounter, as they become peer counselors to their fellow classmates and to themselves, working to close the college gap. 


Our hero's are:

1. Enoch 

Enoch plays high school football and lives with his sister and her child. His mother is in and out of homeless shelters, which becomes an issue when he applies for college and needs her financial documents to qualify for aid. With academics not the greatest, his only chance of a full ride is through sports. 

You can read Enoch's opinion piece in the NY Times: The Implicit Punishment of Daring to go to College When Poor by clicking the link. 

"When I heard that federal prosecutors were charging 50 people in six states for a college admissions bribery scheme and read the accounts that followed, outlining all of the other extensive, mostly legal, help that applicants from rich families get, it underscored how different the admissions experience was for me and my high school classmates in Canarsie." -quote from the article. 

2. Christine

 

Christine is determined to get into The New School (a college in NYC), but her mother opposes this due to the cost and need for loans. Even though her older brother got the support he needed, Christine is met up against gender barriers.

Christine 

Im going to college. And I'm never coming back

Mom

A girl can't be on the road alone.

Christine

Because I'm a girl 

Mom

Of course



3. Karoline

Karoline arrived into the USA from Dominican Republic at the age of 12. Karoline conquered the incredible difficulty of learning English, all while playing caretaker at home to their sister as their father faced alcohol addiction. In between Karoline's struggles, they were bullied for their sexuality and how they dress. 

You can read Karoline's article here, College Was Just Another Foreign Word

"Most students in my school were recent arrivals from the Dominican Republic who did not speak much English. College was just another foreign word. Then it became a dream for  every student in our school. Here’s what happened:" -quote from Article. 


You can access the film here: Student Equity CCSF , make sure to click on film fest series and click, "Fall 2021 Student Equity Film Fest." 




Before we go, did you know that the national counselor to student ratio is 1 to 464. (numbers may be higher) 


Question for you? 

What are some ways we can close the college gap? 



-Teisha


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