I've lived in Providence my whole life. My mother came from Mass, my father came over here from Portugal. They met here and have lived here together for twenty-some years. I've been at Central all four years, and I don't mind it at all. It's been pretty good to me. In all honesty, if I'd had the chance to go to another school when I was a freshman I probably would have. But the choices that were available at the time, I don't mind this one at all. I wouldn't have minded going to a Cranston school, because I live right on the Providence-Cranston border. But when it came down to it they said that I had to pick a Providence school. And since my brother came here, along with a lot of my friends from middle school...I look at Central like it's any other school. I don't think it's very bad at all, not like most people say it is.
I've seen a lot of changes in myself while I've been here, changes in the way that I approach problems and deal with people, what to say to them, what not to say. I think I've just broadened my horizons a little bit. Things have become clearer for me. The kinds of people that come to this school have given me a better sense of the world and how to deal with people. There are so many different kinds of people here so you learn to see the world a lot of different ways.
College is something that I would like to do, but if I don't go to college I'm not going to worry about it. I want to be a business salesman someday, and that's a career that doesn't necessarily require that you go to college. I can see myself working for a company doing sales, or maybe selling cars. I also know a couple of people in the labor union so I might get involved with that. My mother used to work for the government but she doesn't anymore. My father is a machine operator. He works really hard, but it's tough. It's very hard work. I respect him a lot, but I don't think that's what I want to do.
I'm proud of the fact that I work a lot in addition to going to school. I've been working at Spikes, a hotdog restaurant, for about a year and a half now and I'm about to become a supervisor. I haven't even graduated yet and I'm a supervisor at a restaurant. I think that's an accomplishment—it might not be the greatest, but I think it's pretty good. I know some people who have been working there for three years and haven't been promoted at all—so you have to be good at it. it makes me feel good that they want me to be there. And even that I've made it from freshman year till now is an accomplishment. I've had doubts along way, sure. Like right now I'm having trouble with Chemistry, but you put your head down and get through it.
I'm motivated by other people, by the ways that other people discriminate against me. For me personally, I'm a bigger guy, and I stay focused on trying to lose weight. But then to see other people hate on you for no reason, based just on how you look—that's what motivates me to do what I do. At our school we're motivated by hearing other people put down our school and make fun of it. We break down the stereotype every day—that's what keeps us going.
I regret not trying as hard as I know I could have during my time here; in the beginning, especially. And now that college is coming up so soon, who wouldn't love to be accepted into all these great schools. I'm not too concerned, but I feel like everyone's saying that we could have done it if we were more focused early on. My advice to other students is to start early. Don't play games in the beginning; take it seriously from the start. Procrastination is the worst and at the last minute it's too late. In order to be successful in life you need to sacrifice a lot. And another thing: if you don't need to get a job, don't. Stay focused on school.
I don't have a problem with my teachers, for the most part. But I think teachers need to do a better job of controlling their students, not letting their students push them around. There are a lot of teachers here that I respect a lot, teachers that I take seriously. But too many teachers don't show themselves to their students as serious people that deserve respect.
Evelyn Robertson>>
Return to Introduction>>
