Hi, my name is Sara Wright, and I am a City Year corps member from Geyserville, California. If you’ve never heard of it before – which is very likely – I will help you envision it: vineyards of red, yellow, and green thriving in endless rows within a gentle, Mediterranean climate, rolling hills of the Russian River Valley, opulence scattered about the area in the form of lavish homes and quaint establishments. At the same time, Geyserville is a town so small that when you drive past it on the freeway, you miss it. It’s a town with dirt roads that wind and trail into the hills and seem to go nowhere… similar to the lives of many of the students at my middle and high school.

At my small school, students were not pushed to be all that they could be; instead, they were encouraged to do the bare minimum. Teachers were satisfied if their classes completed what they were told rather than if they had done A-work. College was only a possibility for a select few, and the rest were girls who got pregnant before or soon after they graduated, or boys who joined gangs and went to juvey.

Though my mother wanted me to go to college, she was unable to help me with homework after the third grade because the content was beyond her understanding. Without concrete guidance, I could see myself going down the same path as many of my peers.

Meeting my new teacher – coincidentally named Mr. Goodhart – opened up a wealth of possibilities for a number of students, including myself. He was a worldly man who had traveled extensively and yet found plenty of time for philanthropy, starting a school in Africa and dedicating much of his time to those less fortunate. He was a gifted teacher with a knack for science, and I found myself unusually interested in the biology class he taught, though I had never enjoyed science much in the past. Additionally, he introduced us to AP classes, something I had never heard of, let alone considered taking. I became one of four AP biology students during my sophomore year, and he pushed me to take the test as well, tutoring me individually in test-taking strategies and more. Once I received the results of the test informing me that I had passed, I was heading in the right direction, though I didn’t know it at the time.

I transferred to another school after that year with more teachers and students who motivated me to do my best. I took more AP classes and applied to a number of colleges, whereas only one of my classmates from my former school applied to a college.

I ended up graduating with honors from one of the top 10 schools on the west coast, and then getting my dream job. I have every road open to me, and now that I’ve found myself on my way, I want to take students in schools like mine along for the ride, off of those trailing roads like those of my childhood.

I make presentations at middle schools to encourage students to join the City Year Young Heroes program and get involved in community service and social issues. I look at the students and see many of the same qualities in them as I do in myself. I see them as the students like those at my former school, and I want to ensure they have the support and guidance I did in order to reach my goals and make a difference.