“Opening Our Eyes to History” (2021-2022)

This past year, throughout the Black Lives Matter movement, many discussions greatly impacted my perspective. These conversations and the events that transpired served as an inspiration to write this paper. 

I have never really considered myself a good writer. Ever since I moved to the United States, writing has not been my forte, and expressing myself through words on paper was never a natural process for me. I had to practice a lot, and I was always told that good writing was nothing else but short and to the point, so for years I solely focused on putting my emotions aside, which inevitably resulted in basic, uninspiring papers. Then, I went through both expository writing courses at NYU, Writing the Essay and Advanced College Essay. Both classes challenged me to step out of ordinary, thoughtless writing and start thinking outside of the box to unleash more creativity.

While drafting this paper, my fingers moved more spontaneously than ever before. For the first time, I can say that the process of writing a paper was quite simple. I eagerly created an outline of everything I had in mind, connecting my points in just a few hours. From the get-go, I was so immersed that my first draft quickly grew into my final draft. This progression truly proved to me that with thought and dedication, one can reach beyond previous limitations. 

Elianne del Campo (Steinhardt ’24) majors in education studies at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She was born and raised in Mexico City and lived for a few years in Madrid before moving to the United States at the age of twelve. After realizing the large discrepancies in education that exist among different countries and cultures, Elianne gained a passion for education policy and reform, since she strongly believes that a quality education is the best path towards greater opportunities and fewer inequities. In her essay, Elianne attempts to explore the societal beliefs that contribute to the disparities that we see today.