In her own words

Genesis Zuniga

The United States has been known as a nation of great opportunity. It is a country of immigrants that come from all around the world in search of the “American Dream.” However, these opportunities are not afforded to everyone. Systemic racism, inequities in social structures, and policies have created huge racial disparities. Social inequities in employment, wage, housing, discrimination, and incarceration rates have led to disproportionate numbers of minority groups living in poverty and lacking equitable education. These structures prevent those seeking equality from having equal opportunity and cause an inequity in economic and educational institutions. Throughout my schooling I have been victim of the general marginalization certain teachers have with students of color. All of these findings have helped fuel my passion for pursuing the teaching career. I am pursuing higher education to make a change. I want to help better the education system and help create more representation in the schools. I am graduating in May 2022 with my bachelor’s in Elementary Education. I plan on starting my career by teaching at an inner-city school teaching at an elementary school. Afterwards, I will go back to school and work on my master’s in education. With more experience, I would like to later on serve as an administrative member at an urban school. As future leaders of society, we need to keep in mind the injustices that many still experiences in today’s society and create change that will benefit all students no matter their background.

return to 2020 scholarship homepage