Guilan also mentioned that working with 826 on their personal statements from the start sets the tone for the rest of the year.
“Each year I am just blown away with some of the things that these students have had to deal with … For so many of them, these defining moments have only empowered them rather than defeated them. They’re brave enough to talk about it and they’re brave enough to say, ‘I’m not going to let this be who I am.’ … Students are able to expose themselves without feeling like they’re going to look odd or make themselves too vulnerable.”
After watching these teens reflect and bring forth honesty from their hearts and through their pens, I thought back to my high school English teachers and wondered if Eggers and I had both been given a gift, the gift of teacher attention which may have lead us to our careers today. Then I pulled out my fingerprinting paperwork from my 826 volunteer interview just months before, and I decided that I’d take the time to join, if only to give back to the students who also wanted the gift for their own.
