Bursting My Bubble

By: Jennifer Chacon-Duran

Growing up in Southside San Jose, I didn’t realize many of the students who lived in my same city experienced different educational realities. I went through elementary, middle, and most of high school completely unaware that I had experienced a “lesser-quality” education due to lack of funding. Everything I had experienced in my 11 years in the public school system seemed so normal until I stepped out of my bubble and witnessed the inequities I had been facing all along. 

I was fortunate to have teachers around me who genuinely cared about their students and would try their best despite the lack of funding. They played a significant role in making us feel like there weren’t any inequities in our education. One of my high school teachers really pushed her Latine and Black students to pursue careers in STEM by telling us about different opportunities like science fairs and introduction camps she had heard of from her social and professional networks. I am so grateful I listened to her and pushed myself to go into these different spaces because if it weren’t for her, many students would have never gotten the chance to experience the resources and opportunities rich, white students in San Jose and Santa Clara County experience. However, at the same time, being in these spaces was also very disheartening and frustrating because I was jealous. It wasn’t fair that these students get to participate in seemingly endless opportunities all their lives because their schools have better funding and motivate them to reach for the stars. Meanwhile, my high school would never encourage their students to dream of these sorts of things. 

I started my senior year of high school more angry than I was excited because I finally had become aware of my peers and my true reality. Since then, everything I have done in my academic career the rest of high school and in my higher education has been with my educational journey in mind. Getting to UC Berkeley, another institution that is constantly reminding me of my “lesser-quality” education background, has been very challenging. But it has motivated me even further to push for change. I am a product of an underfunded school in our horrible education system. That is why I am very grateful to be a part of an organization like Evolve California that constantly shows they care about students like me and is working towards ensuring a future where there are fewer and fewer stories like mine.