August 17

A Hope in the Unseen (1998)
By Ron Suskind

Suskind, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, follows the high school and college experience of Cedric Jennings, from Ballou High School in Washington DC to his unlikely acceptance at Brown University.  Even though Ballou HS is a low-performing school infested by crime, Cedric has stood out as an honor student, always supported by his mother.  He earned a spot at a summer program for minority students at MIT and decides he wants to try for admission at an Ivy League school.  When he is admitted to Brown, it is only half the battle.  At Brown, Cedric finds himself far behind his fellow freshmen, as he realizes his education lacks many of the basics that comprise a hs education.  Socially, he also feel like an outcast.  But he has come this far and, thanks to his faith, his determination, and his own intelligence, he struggles to succeed - and he does!

I learned that Cedric had a student employment position in my own department of Geological Sciences at Brown University. Although he graduated before I started working there in 2002, I heard good things about him - that he was a dependable worker and an overall nice person.

Besides Cedric's obvious motivation and intelligence, it's also interesting that writer Suskind picked a winner.  He could not have known, as he followed Cedric through high school, that he would go on to succeed as a college student, and eventually earn graduate degrees.  A follow-up report 10 years after Cedric leaves Brown follows his post-graduate school success.  He went on to earn graduate degrees at Harvard and Michigan; today he serves as a clinical social worker and youth pastor.