Name: Geranise Dorce
Majors: Psychology & African American Studies
School: Florida State University
Year: Spring 2016 – Current
Education has always been an important aspect of my life. I think education is an investment, and that any investment towards self-empowerment and growth is a great one. However, an even greater investment is an investment in the self that can also empower and inspire others. My siblings and I grew up without great examples of financial and academic success. My family was completely dependent on my grandmother, who worked in the fields and as a housekeeper in the United States to support us. My father died when I was two years old, and my mother never graduated high school. In fact, my older sister was the first in the history of both sides of my family, distant and immediate alike, to attend and/or graduate college.
In many ways my education will serve as more than proof of qualification for my career. My college degree will serve as hope and peace of mind to my mother and grandmother that I will not be working alongside them as a housekeeper. It will serve as proof of their hard work and sacrifices for my success. Furthermore, my degree will be another example to my younger brother, who seems to have been brainwashed by the media to think that his athletic abilities are his only abilities as a young Black man, that Black men and women can be both athletic and smart. We are not confined to society’s prejudices against us.
SSF has played such a major role in my success in college thus far, and in living an exemplary life for my brother. Because of the money saved from SSF, I was able to participate in a cultural exchange program to Germany for three weeks this summer. To travel abroad for the simple purpose of observing culture is a concept unheard of in my family. Yet, I was able to do it because of SSF. I was able to show my brother once again that the sky is the limit. SSF has exposed me to a support system unlike any other that I have ever experienced. At Lastinger, I have: a tutor, a study buddy, a running partner, a designated swimming teacher, multiple taxi drivers (basically), an editor, multiple chefs, church buddies, “travel and conquer the world” partners, multiple fellow telenovela binge watchers, and a ton of close friends to whom I can go for anything. SSF has also provided me with an opportunity to reciprocate that same support to the rest of my house. I will never have another opportunity like this. I will never live in another house with seventeen women who inspire one another to be greater and reach higher. The difference SSF has made in my life is inconceivable and eternal. Thank you SSF for ensuring my mother’s and grandmother’s peace of mind, and for allowing me the opportunity to be a sister that my little brother can look up to. I am forever grateful. Thank you.
* If you would like to sponsor a student like Geranise, please visit our ‘Sponsor a Student’ page here: http://bit.ly/SSFSponsorship
