I assumed that most of the people were going to be unhealthily competitive because of my past experiences. I thought I would keep to myself, do my work, and come back no different. Living in a building with 80 people I’ve never met in a place I’ve never been while making a significant life style change was not easy. The first few days were not kind: I got mild stomach ulcers, it was awkward, and I felt out of place. That first Thursday night however, all of that started to change. On Thursday evenings we had “Family Meetings” and on this particular Thursday part of our Machine Learning class was working together when the time came to go to the dining hall for whatever this “Family Meeting” was. Honestly we dreaded it at first, “I have work to do” was the most common phrase. We learned that “Family Meeting” was a safe space for us to talk about anything and everything. Today’s theme was, “what’s something important about your identity that makes you unique?” but the conversation quickly evolved into so much more. People spoke about losing family members, being shunned at home, not feeling comfortable in their own skin, and more. So many people opened up about incredibly personal things, I felt honored to be given that trust. The room was somber and warm with empathy as the meeting concluded. Out of my peripheral vision I saw Izzy, one of my Machine Learning classmates, rushing back to the conference room. I realized something was not right. Instinctively, I followed her back to where we were working. Izzy sat down and immediately broke down, the rest of us filed in as she started to talk about what was wrong. It felt as though an ambulance was sitting on my chest, my breaths were short and stingy. I was afraid; afraid my support wouldn’t be good enough, afraid to show that I cared, afraid they didn’t care for me. In this one moment all my insecurities, some I didn’t even know I had, came to the surface. The heavy silence of hushed sobbing was broken by an outpouring of support and a hug. We all started sharing what we’re going through and even some of our past trauma. Slowly that weight is lifted off my chest. I feel comfortable, I feel wanted, I feel safe.

This is the first time I truly felt confident, empowered, and loved. I am surrounded by people smarter than me and I don’t feel any lesser because of it. I have become the true Francisco, or Cisco as they call me. I now, at all times, am unapologetically myself. The difference is night and day. As the program progressed I only felt more comfortable and safe, enough so to even go up and speak at a family meeting. These people, this family, treated me right. I gained priceless confidence, social skills, self-worth, empathetic ability, and mental fortitude to take with me and grow on for the rest of my life. Through all of this somehow cutting out the biggest part of my diet became the least impactful part of my summer.

文书点评

Francisco 的文书描述了他参与麻省理工学院少数族裔工程与科学入门项目的经历。故事从一个从琐碎的旅行准备开始谈起，让人开始感兴趣于作者的背景：什么人会对一个6周的旅行这么紧张，要把身体检查一遍，还要停止喝牛奶呢？原来，是一个即将参加MITES的男孩。看到MITES，你自然想到作者在其背景下的优秀。故事的起点看似微不足道，一个关于放弃牛奶的健康小选择——但很快就变成了一个隐喻，寓意着改变人生的事件接踵而至。

整个夏天，MITES项目如同一场心灵的洗礼，彻底重塑了Francisco对自我及人际关系的认知。起初，他满心忐忑，担心这个精英云集的环境会加剧自己的孤独感。然而，每周一次的“家庭会议”成为了转折点。在一次以“独特身份”为主题的讨论中，大家开始坦诚地分享自己的故事。Francisco被这份坦诚深深触动，他开始反思自己对待项目与同伴的方式，内心悄然发生了转变。项目初期遭遇的身体不适与心理隔阂，非但没有击垮他，反而成了转变的催化剂。

文章采用英文叙事写作中常见的笔法。把看似琐碎、不值一提的事物，用尽量细节的手笔来描绘出来，这实际上是西方油画追求的做法。这篇文书出色地说明了生动地展示了社区的力量与真诚对话对个人成长的深远影响，作者的经历也证明了学习环境中安全空间的价值以及同理心的变革潜力。

通过这段经历，Francisco已经完成蜕变，他现在是“真正的Francisco”，或者用他朋友的话说是“Cisco”。文书结束时，作者更强调了这段经历如何让他有信心做真实的自己，并给了他无价的社交技能、自我价值和情感坚韧，这些都将在他的一生中用到。