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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > July > 03 > Entry
Heartbreaking …
When Ian Ybarra went back to his old high school and talked to his father’s AP classes about a great summer camp opportunity for top students, he also was on the lookout for any really smart, motivated kids he might encourage to apply to top colleges (he’s an MIT grad).
Out of 35 kids, three took Ybarra up on the camp:
- One kid asked for his help, got a letter of recommendation from Ybarra and then … he never applied for the camp.
- Another never said a word to Ybarra or asked for his help, but applied on his own.
- And then there was Jessica Pierce, the one kid who did everything right. She wasn’t afraid to ask Ybarra for help, to utilize his guidance, and pretty soon Ybarra was pulling all the strings he could to get Jessica into a top college.
Jessica was going places, Ybarra said. Which makes her shocking death all the more tragic.
Jessica was on a student trip to Costa Rica when weather conditions changed in seconds and she drowned in the sea along with two other students and a teacher.
Ybarra’s touching tribute to Jessica reminds other young people to seize their opportunities in life:
“Today was her funeral. At the service, one of her best friends concluded her eulogy by reading the following from an essay Jessica had written for school or an application or something:
“We have all been given so many opportunities, and we need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can do to make the most of them.”
Jessica doesn’t have the opportunity to go to college now, or to see more of the world, or to find work she loves and do it with all her mind, body, and soul.
But you and so many others do.
If you run across a young person who’s finding reasons to avoid doing great things, point them to this story. Perhaps they’ll get it. Perhaps they won’t.
If you run across parents who are confining their children’s lives to the limits they long ago placed on their own, point them to this story. Help them understand how lucky they are to be able to send their daughter to college or to an internship or job 1,000 miles away. I know Jessica’s parents would love to do that, just to know Jessica was living and living well. Perhaps they’ll get it. Perhaps they won’t.
Either way, Jessica’s story will speak to those who have that special thing inside that she had. And if her legacy is having inspired even those few people, it will be a legacy of a life well lived.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Colleges and Universities
Comments
By Andrew Pass
July 3, 2006 4:20 PM | Link to this
Thanks for your article. It reminds me of a former student of mine, George. I taught George when he was twelve years old at a synagogue religious school. George and I became very close. I went to his house on several occasions where we’d play basketball. I moved away when George finished seventh grade, but we kept in touch, writing letters to one another. The year before George went to college he actually taught religious school. During George’s first year of college he developed brain cancer and died. He was only nineteen years old. George’s life is another lesson that even if you only have a few short years on Earth you can make a difference. George made my teaching experience more meaningful and he encouraged his own students to love learning. Andrew Pass http://www.Pass-Ed.com