Reaching Our Full Potential
By Deontez Wimbley | VOX Staff
 |
|
Art by
Melissa Depeaza | VOX Staff |
Barack Obama’s election to the presidency has inspired countless minorities to pursue their goals and dreams. However, too many others don’t even try. I hate when teenagers allow their insecurities and lack of self-esteem to determine how far they will go in life.
The Problem
Walking down the hallways at school, people look as if like they are going to the club or chillin’ with their homies. Young ladies expose their cleavage and wear super short skirts and flip-flops — even during the winter. Young men sag their pants and wear aluminum foil on their teeth. I think it is ignorant and degrading for people to carry themselves like this.
I often hear people calling their friends “b*tches” and “hoes.” They use the words so loosely; their friends accept it as if it’s nothing. But we’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer by.” If your friends call you a b*tch and you accept it, then you’re saying that you do not mind people addressing you as an animal unworthy of respect.
When progress reports come out, people flaunt their Fs and Ds like they’re money. Many teens think failing is the road to fame, popularity and acceptance. If you make the As, you get ridiculed for being too smart or people say that you think you’re all that.
It Gets Worse
Once, I used some SAT words that I learned in my English class on an essay. As I read the essay aloud in class, people began to criticize me for using those words.
They said, "Get back to our level" and "Why are you trying to act white?"
I was furious, and I held an intense debate with a peer about what he was saying. He didn’t expect that I would defend what I said, and for the rest of the class period, he was quiet.
As we were leaving class, he came to me and said, “Deontez, you were right, and I am sorry for what I said.”
I accepted his apology and told him: “It was cool. Just don’t limit yourself, even if your peers don’t accept it.”
In my computer class, there is a young man who acts like he might not amount to anything, but in conversation I can tell that he is brilliant and has the potential to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I asked him why he didn't apply himself in school.
He said, “A n*gga like me will never be anything.”
I was stunned and replied, "Do not allow your present situation to determine your unknown future."
He said, "Deontez, it just won’t happen for me.”
I went home and felt so bad for him that I cried. That night I prayed and asked God to show my peers their true potential.
These boys are not the only ones. There’s a young lady in my English class I have known since middle school. She could be the next Condoleezza Rice, but she allows all the boys to do whatever they want to do to her. And another senior I know just called it all quits and dropped out. This is a serious problem.
The Solution
I’ve asked many of my classmates what they want to do in life, and I always get the same response, “Make money.” When I ask my peers how they plan to make money, they say “having my hustle” in music or sports. I am not saying those aren’t good professional careers, but they seem to have become a box that my classmates feel they have to stay in.
Even athletes and artists at the top of their game work hard and go outside the box. In sports, Allen Iverson attended Georgetown University for two years before becoming the top NBA draft pick in 1996. And tennis pro Venus Williams has a degree in fashion design and her own clothing line called EleVen. In music, Ludacris runs the Ludacris Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people achieve their dreams. Even though their strengths are in sports and music, these stars knew they could be more and make an impact in society.
We can’t allow friends, family or circumstances to limit our aspirations. If we reach for our full potential, we will be amazed at how far we go. Start off by saying “Yes I can,” and then you will be saying “Yes, I did.”