Latinos/Hispanos/Mexican Americans are excellent at organizing Padrinos/Madrinas for events such as Quinceañeras/weddings! It is a time when friends/families come together to help each other make these events celebratory. Seems that people come together, pool their resources and help each other. We do this also for funerals and other needs. $10,000 or more dollar events, such as these, become less of a burden on the few. This is a wonderful aspect of our culture.
For years, I have always believed that if we applied this same approach to helping our young people pay for their education we could make a big difference in their lives. Wouldn’t this be a major step towards ensuring a better life for our youth? Education, is something that lasts a life time, not just one day. Perhaps it is time to start another great tradition: Padrinos/Madrinas for the education of our youth! I have actually made this offer to several young people, and have actually had a couple take me up on my offer. I have actually given money to a couple of young people to help with books and even tuition. The only thing I asked in return, was that they get good grades!
I can’t think of a better way to help our “youth” than helping them get an education, which in the long run will benefit them, their families and our community! It is a way to lift ourselves up as a community, to be able to compete in the work force, help our youth to become more productive and caring individuals. The goal is that they in turn will help those who follow them. Let’s be realistic, today’s job market indicates that 6 out of 10 jobs require some college! In the future, it may be 8 or 10 jobs that will require a degree or skilled trade!
Some may wonder, why should I help someone else get an education, that’s their responsibility or their parent’s. Well, to that I ask, why should some of us help pay for someone else’s Quinceañera? Or wedding. It is not my responsibility. As stated earlier, education of our youth, will help everyone in the long run.
Yes, there are scholarships for many, especially those who work hard, keep their grades high and are able to compete for the scholarships. Nevertheless, education today is extremely expensive and student debt continues to rise. We can reduce the rates of poverty among Latinos/Hispanos and begin to create wealth for our children and their children. Let’s reduce all those negative factors we read about: 1) dropout rates, poverty rates, home ownership rates and so on. Let’s seriously begin to consider creating a new tradition of helping our community’s youth improve their futures! Adelante, Padrinos/Madrinas for our Youth’s future! Adelante, Raza!
What say you?
No comments:
Post a Comment