Aurora Public Schools’ Post

Transcript

I think the word potential means getting out of your comfort zone.�� Having that��big dream and working hard to get there. My��name is Divine Uwase and I'm the class of 2024. What makes me me is just what I believe in. And that I believe working hard, with the help of��God, anything is possible. When I was in Rwanda, I was young. So I didn't know if I was��open-minded or close-minded or anything like that. But coming here to the United States, it has opened��my eyes because here it's a very, very diverse��country. It taught me to see other perspectives of��other people. It brings a kind of comfort, because��you get to see that you're not alone.���� Other people, even though they don't look like me, or��they don't speak the same language, or we're from��the same country or same culture, we're still here to��learn together and chasing the better life that��we're all looking for. At Aurora West, you go to school looking forward to actually going to school, you know?���� Cuz sometimes, when school does not have that feeling of community, it discourages you to go to school. You're like, "hmm..." You��don't want to go. But once you have that��community, once you have built those different relationships with different people, and you see how different people are great, you're going��to school looking forward to that. So that interests you to learn and come to school. So that is��a really great thing. Right now, I'm a concurrent��enrollment student, and I'm also in college��already. I have a CNA certificate and also, I'm working as a dental assistant, which is a��step to where I'm going with my career. I'm going to graduate with a one-year scholarship to pay��for everything, so I'm happy where I stand��right now. When I started high school, I felt unease and nervous and out of place, but now I��feel empowered. I became a risk taker, because I��had to get out of my comfort zone and see that��I can do it. You know, see my potential. I one day thought to myself, what would my future self say��about me now. So that inspired me to take even baby steps to where I want to be in the��future. Therefore, my future self can look back and say, "great job, Divine. You did good."