'Best decision of my life'
"I’ve received much more than just kind words and encouragement here at ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË. The amount of support I’ve received ... can never be repaid." – David Feliciano
Editor's Note: The speech below was delivered by ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË David Feliciano at the annual President's Reception, hosted by President Christina Royal Oct. 15 at the ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË MGM Culinary Arts Institute.
My name is David Feliciano, I'm 22 years old, and this is my second year at ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË. I graduated from West Springfield High School in 2015 by the skin on my teeth, but today I am an honors ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË. Like many, I entered the real world without any sense of direction. It took me a few years and a few failures to realize that I was on the wrong path and needed to reset.
So, at 21, I decided to move back to Massachusetts and enroll at ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË. At first, my parents might have been a bit hesitant to take me back. But this has proven to be the best decision of my life so far.
In addition to being given a second-chance academically, coming to ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË has provided me a safe space to make mistakes and grow. I started my education plan with a focus on addiction studies, and a long-term goal of becoming an English teacher. But I have since developed a new passion for the social sciences and volunteer work. At first, this seemed like a bit of a dilemma. If I know I want to be a teacher, but I also know I want to fight for social reform ... well, how can I do both? At the end of Fall 2018 semester, I spoke to a professor about how I was torn between two majors and the answer she gave me blew me away – "You can just do both,'' she said. All I could think was, Wow, here is a highly qualified and experienced professional believing that I can do anything. I took that validation and ran with it.
I've received much more than just kind words and encouragement here at ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË. The amount of support I've received from the staff at the Math Center can never be repaid. I have always struggled with numbers. This is something I thought would simply never change. However, twice a week, for two semesters, I was able to get the support I needed from the Math Center staff. They were always happy to help me, and soon enough something amazing happened. After all these years, I realized that there is beauty in math problems. They can actually be quite fun if you know what you're doing. This was a revelation for me that helped me in my other courses as well. The fact that I was able to overcome something I have struggled with since the age of 13 was just remarkable.
Ultimately, ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË has been critical to shaping my future. My experiences here have allowed me to begin the process of shedding my skin. This semester, for the first time, I have begun participating in extracurricular activities on campus that have allowed me to meet inspiring ¿ì²¥³ÉÈËs. I'm a member of two on-campus clubs and ¿ì²¥³ÉÈË senator, and I'm taking my first honors course. These are all things I had never before pictured myself participating in, and I am eternally grateful, because they are forming who I will be for the rest of my life.
PHOTOS by MICHAEL GORDON
