Las Vegas students do not graduate. That is an overgeneralization; nevertheless, in the 2009-2010 academic year, only 52 percent of black males graduated high school, according to the 2012 Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males. In 2011, the Nevada Report Card reported that only 59.34 percent of Las Vegas’ enrolled high school students graduated that year.
This is where I come from.
Filing through application deadlines, categorizing acceptance letters or preparing for my next stage in life was somewhat of an oddity for a Las Vegas student, especially for me, as a black Las Vegas student.
Now that I’m in a similar transitional phase — preparing for post-graduate life — I have to remind myself of the mindset that guided me and can guide others in transitional phases: the mindset where statistics regarding the low probability of my success in college have no significance, where the impossible can be possible.
Have faith in the impossible
In 2011, after employing my faith to overcome the statistics regarding my graduation from high school and college, I further employed my faith for the seemingly impossible when I applied for the good-through-graduation Gates Millennium Scholarship. In a sea of 22,000 applicants, I was one of the 1,000 scholars awarded the scholarship. In moments of intense decision making or situational distress like this, I realized that having faith in the impossible is sometimes the only route when all you’re traveling through are odds.
Do what is possible
James 2:17 notes, “Faith without works is dead.” If it weren’t for supporting my faith with “works,” I would not be beating the statistics that I reported above.
Have patience in the process
Achieving the impossible is a process that requires patience. As you wait to materialize the impossible, it can be tempting to succumb to the statistics or to what others say about your dreams — there have been times when simply dropping out seemed easier for me. However, I’m here, and I’ll be graduating soon.
No matter what you’re going through right now, do not sacrifice your dream for what the statistics report. Do not let people decrease your faith in the dream as you can visualize it.
People don’t have to understand your faith. The level of faith you have in the unthinkable or the level of belief and confidence you have in the impossible does not have to match another person’s faith. We all have different callings and we all have a unique level of faith to apply to our situations.
Therefore, for those in a transitional phase in school or in life, do what’s possible in your quest for learning, your career and your life and continue to have faith in the impossible. You’ll never know when your focus, commitment and diligence will conspire to turn your impossible into your reality.
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Follow Joshua Gray on Twitter: @theJoshuaGray
