2024 Winner: Alejandra Saavedra

CONGRATULATIONS TO Alejandra Saavedra WINNER OF THE 2024 JORDAN G. MCFAULL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP!

Essay by Alejandra Saavedra

I despise the letter R.

The letter R unravels my disguise. When the rolling R escapes my mouth, revealing my true identity, it leaves me nude. Completely bare from head to toe, vulnerability in a way that reminded me of not having power or water in my home country.

Despite such hatred, the letter R is important in my life. It’s in my name, my mother’s name, and also in Caracas, my home country’s capital. The letter R, for all its faults, is necessary to describe my character: rare, resourceful, and resolute.

Ironically, the way that I found a compromise with the letter R was by using the letter R over and over again. Since English was not my first language, I struggled to be heard and listened to throughout my years in America, but when I started debating, it was suddenly different. I suddenly found a world in which a variety of issues could be fought, but in hindsight, it was a place where I could stand up for my country and be an advocate. I have never felt such passion arise in me as I stood up in front of an entire chamber of senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Washington DC.

Sincerely though, I wanted more hands-on impact. As I came back home, I helped kids who were just like me: struggling with english and lost because they thought Venezuela’s corruption corrupted them too. I distributed sanitary goods, cans of foods, and school supplies in hopes they felt some stability in their life that no one was able to provide for me. Surprisingly, while discovering that these kids were the same as me, a little girl told me “Gracias por todo!” with that familiar R, I smiled.

The letter R and I were no longer enemies, but friends who helped each other. I learned this while being a translator at the law firm I interned at as the mother who testified took my hand, leaned in, and said “Thank you for giving me a voice.” I learned that the letter R made me someone in the position to help others instead of someone who was constantly vulnerable. Between all the days in the year and lines in my books, I started inviting my friends over to share my culture’s food, I met with city council members to start establishing ESL schools, and slowly but surely, I fell in love with the letter R.

“I repeat. Does anyone nearby know Spanish?” Instead of staying still, I stood up, waved my hand, and smiled, “I can help you translate!”

Loving the letter R though meant losing rigidity in the outlook of life, deciding that changes and differences were a chance for growth rather than a chance for a fight.