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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD - There is no rancor in Tiffany Velazquez's voice. And yet one might expect some considering what the 19 year-old has already encountered in her life. Velazquez was the recent recipient of The Accepting the Challenge of Excellence Award from the Springfield Exchange Club. The annual recognition and scholarship is given to a high school student who has overcome difficult times and obstacles to excel. Soon to be a graduate of the High School of Commerce, Velazquez juggles her duties as a student with working part-time with being a staff member of her high school newspaper. She has been accepted at American International College where she intends to major in nursing. "I want to go into medicine because I want to help people," Velazquez told Reminder Publications. "I've talked about it a lot. I'm very excited." Velazquez was the first Latina to participate in the "Doctor for a Day" program sponsored by Baystate Medical Center and her high school. Velazquez is the first member of her immediate family to graduate from high school and has been in and out of foster care since third grade. In her application for the scholarship she wrote, "To be honest, I went through most of my life thinking that I would never graduate high school because none of my brothers or sisters had not even my mother." In her application, Velazquez wrote about her childhood: "A child as young as six-years-old should not have to sleep in shelters at night, move from house to house because their mother never had a decent job or to be exposed to the world of sex, drugs and prostitution. To put it bluntly, I was." "I really don't point fingers or get upset," she said of her past. She said that one of the harder aspects of her life has been being two years older than her classmates. She was out of school often as a young child that resulted in her being held back. In high school that has meant a feeling of separation from her classmates that made socializing difficult. The positive side is that many students looked up to her and came to her with their problems. She said she is determined to use the experiences of her life to make her a stronger person. "I'm just trying to do good and be a positive role model," she added. Her teachers certainly see her that way. Her English teacher, Brian Duffey, wrote, "Her present living arrangement is far from ideal, yet Tiffany continues to make the best of an imperfect situation and refuses to give in. Tiffany is a fighter, a character trait that resonates in all that she does." She said that receiving the award from the Exchange Club has resulted in letters of congratulations and support. "It sort of feels good. People are recognizing me and they know I'm doing something as a young woman." | ||||||
