Carlos

Carlos first came to my attention in maybe the third grade. All the kids had the  assignment to present the biographies of their favorite celebrity. The class had many entries in this assignment: all were about the usual teen aged idols and a few sports stars. All were quite dismal and banal in their presentations.

And then, Carlos stood up with his hand written notes. He spoke about Gandhi, and suddenly the room was quiet. The other kids clearly had no idea about this man and his ideas, but they were enthralled by Carlos' and his enthusiasm and careful research.

The school knew that this boy was exceptional, but in this tiny impoverished place, no one knows what to do with the few gifted kids that pass by their purview.

I tracked Carlos through his elementary years and we became friends. He is a Mexican boy, and entered this country illegally on his mom's back. Later, I became friends with his mother who has helped us with our summer camp, and since then has become the best housekeeper we have ever had. (If she were a legal citizen she would be running something, no doubt.)

Carlos has gone on to middle school, the one that enrolls all the Lacoochee Mexicans. I worry that he is not being challenged and from time to time I make it possible for him to be a member of the soccer team, or go to camp, or go on a trip to Washington, D.C.

Carlos, even with the backing of a strong but struggling family invested in education, needs to have the vision of that wide wide world that may be possible. From this family and their community, I have learned how difficult it is to be undocumented in America, how terrified they are, like so many others, to contemplate the fate of this highly gifted kid who could soar. But he's illegal and they worry about this all the time.

As we read in the NYT today, so many high achieving but poor kids just do not have any idea that they could go free to the most selective colleges. (They have not heard of Smith or Yale or ..) They settle for the local community colleges, and there is nothing wrong with that in most cases. We need to ask why those so-called college advisors in the high schools are not directing these gifted, but poor kids to the highest and best.

But, Carlos needs more challenge, and if I have anything to do with it, he'll be there one day at MIT or Brown or wherever.

I am doing what I can. I am trying to give Carlos  some vision about the future.