Gene Denton Essay 24

The Hispanic Kansas City community, my community is one that has been established for years. Throughout those years though, there have been established stereotypes for our people, that we are low education workers that work in either construction or minimum wage jobs. This stereotype isn’t one hundred percent false though, a lot of Hispanics have this idea of college being a scam, and blue collar being the real way to get money. Hispanic men in particular hold this belief, a recent study shows 60% of Hispanic women represent all undergraduate Hispanic students versus 40% of Hispanic men.

A lot of this can be attributed to the culture where for many Hispanic men they might just continue the job their dad did for a secured opportunity as it’s what they grew up doing, along with many of the hispanic community within Kansas City coming from low income backgrounds. Not only that but the same aspect about us only portrayed as blue collar/low income workers contributes to the idea in many children that their capability only reaches as far. For many, college isn’t a priority since it can be seen as a risk or useless because of the debt you accumulate, and from an outside perspective does sound bad.

The reality is that this leads to a lot of Hispanic men being stuck in a bubble for their future, and not prioritizing school and stuck on one idea of work. I don’t think blue collar jobs are a bad thing, I just think the community prioritizes them too much without realizing that you can take other careers in life such as in the STEM, Medical, Law, or liberal arts field. For me I wanna see more people in college, those of which who want to go of course.

As for me, architecture was my point of interest. I’ve always taken an interest in the designs of cities and their buildings, the most significant of which are cities like Guadalajara, Barcelona, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Istanbul, with beautiful and unique architecture. My favorite buildings are Spanish haciendas with a courtyard within the middle, it reminds me of my uncle’s house before he passed. I hope one day to design and build my own house. 

My second point of interest is my boxing journey. When I started boxing sophomore year of high school, I quickly felt a deep connection with the sport, as it gave me discipline and motivation to keep practicing as I learned more about boxing, and saw progress between sparring footage. Boxing is one of my passions and I hope to continue it after high school and make it to the olympics.

Although I did choose my degree based on my personal preferences, I didn’t just choose it for me. My degree is for all in the community to be inspired to do the same, I hope after I graduate I’m able to give back to the community and open their eyes on why college should be an option in life. My first goal would be to get a job, then plan out a house for my parents to live in, so they would be able to retire in their dream house I designed for them. Second, would be to design my own boxing gym so I can continue to teach new generations of children boxing so they can gain discipline and apply it to other areas of their life such as school or work. Third, would be to build a Catholic church or building, in honor of God and his kingdom. This is my dream as an architect and I hope I get the opportunity to. Then, I would share my accomplishments online on social media, in hopes I inspire others online to follow a similar path. Most important of all, as a low income Mexican Hispanic, I know the struggle of not enough money for your goals.

College can be expensive, so I want to start my own architecture firm, and give profits to scholarships for others within the community so they won’t have to worry about their income impeding on their education journey. This I feel is the most important step in solving the problem of the Hispanic community not seeking higher education enough, if they have the money to do so, they would more than likely take that chance. 

So as a student, boxer, and a young visionary, I ask that you consider me for this scholarship.