Remarkable youngsters ensure promising future

Amidst the presence of a great number of students across the country marching for school safety and gun controls, I had the annual opportunity to meet with finalists for a college scholarship program that filled me, as it always does, with assurance that our future is in good hands.

The occasion was the decision to award $10,000 to each of six students toward college expenses from the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. The program carries with it the requirement of robust training in leadership development through rotating internships in the city’s political, business, and community service organizations that unfolds in the recipients’ senior year.

I serve as one of the seven members of the final selection committee that has the daunting task of choosing one of the three finalists from each school for the scholarship. In that capacity, we interview 18 high school juniors who cleared the initial screening process at their schools.

In addition to superior academic performance, we are looking for those who have shown an interest in community service and demonstrated the potential for leadership.

When all this began 20 years ago, we were somewhat surprised at the qualities we discovered in these young people. Even though we have learned what to expect, we are still always amazed to discover 16-year-olds with maturity and character qualities that make us smile.

Far more important than the good feeling that smile represents, is the certainty that these students have already realized the values that will insure a successful life journey for them and, along the way, for the rest of us.

We have been provided their transcripts, a short essay of why they applied for the program, confirmation of their strong character from their school counselors, and letters from their teachers and principals filled with superlative descriptions of their achievements and their potential.

I’ve space here for just a couple of examples but these are typical of the qualities they all possess.

There’s a young man who is the captain of his school’s baseball team — a sport he pursues because he says it creates an emotional endurance needed to succeed as an individual working with others.

In a single parent household, he writes that his priority is helping his mom and supporting his two younger sisters which includes tutoring and cooking for them. He says family comes first, that they are counting on him and he cannot fail.

His teachers say he is a leader demonstrating integrity and active in community service and charity events.

In all of that, he stands academically among the top ten in his class of about 700 students.

Then we met a candidate who described himself in his elementary years as a stereotypical Asian boy — nerdy, introverted, and teased by his peers as a math whiz.

The result of that experience, he writes, was to develop a hunger for self-improvement to break down any barriers that could have limited his potential.

His counselor says he is perceptive, sharp, quick with a high aptitude demonstrating excellence in all that he puts his mind to. His list of school and community activities is impressive.

So are those math scores — solid 100’s in advanced algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. Those grades are typical and ranks him number two in a class of more than 800.

Something all of them have in common is a love of country and community. They say they want to give back.

That quality is the very thing that impresses the selection board the most. And, it’s why we’re sure our country is going to be in good hands as this generation takes the handoff to move us ever forward.

Those that have preceded them coming out of this program already have. That’s how we know.

Richard Greene is a former Arlington mayor.

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Remarkable youngsters ensure promising future."