Like A Good Neighbor...

Avalon Continuation High School experienced one of its most dynamic speakers yet, when it was visited by Ms. Priscilla Orozco, Public Affairs Specialist for State Farm Insurance.  Ms. Orozco came at my request to offer insight to the Teen Skills course on future possibilities and the importance of higher education. She began her talk with a brief history of her own career path, including that before beginning her career in insurance, she was headed toward a future of Law Enforcement, pursuing it as far as interviewing for the FBI. She admitted to the kids that her career path changed when during an obstacle course at the Police Department, she couldn’t make it over the 6 ft. wall. (Don’t worry Priscilla, we have all had our share of 6 ft. walls that have steered us into different directions, in our careers as well as our personal lives!)

After warming the extremely attentive class up with stories of her career pursuits, Priscilla took the class down a more personal road, explaining the role education, family and beauty pageants have played  in making her the phenomenal woman she is today . Priscilla was born and raised in Sacramento, California. She is the youngest of seven kids and the first to attend college. While that is a notable accomplishment, her road to higher education was a little rough. In elementary school, Priscilla had some behavior issues and had to transfer to a continuation school herself in order to get her grades on track. Before she left, her principal told her that she would never amount to anything. She was only in the sixth grade. At that point, Priscilla decided to change her attitude about her altitude. She decided that the fulfillment of her potential was up to her and that her future would not be determined by anyone else. The interesting part is that when she began to make good grades, it was rare that she was encouraged by her High School teachers or counselors to pursue higher education. She and many of her classmates were only being encouraged to seek out labor-intensive jobs or trades despite their extremely high GPA’s.

One place where Priscilla did receive plenty of inspiration to dream and encouragement to go to college was in the world of pageantry. Priscilla competed in the pageantry circuit that eventually lead to the crown jewel of the pageant world, the Miss America pageant. Priscilla learned a lot from competing in pageants. She gained plenty self-confidence, found expression for her love of dancing and won plenty of scholarships to help her pay for college. Priscilla’s family was also extremely supportive during these formative years and she found comfort in their love for her individuality and their cultural attributes that they passed on to her to appreciate.

At the end of her talk, she turned the discussion towards the students, going around the class and asking each student about his or her individual aspirations. Most students said that after graduating from High School, they wanted to go to college. One female student even shared her plan to become an astronaut. A couple of our male students announced that they aspired to marry Priscilla. Their offers were only  good until they found out her annual salary, and that she only obtained it after seventeen years of hard work with State Farm. I think they all decided that they should probably finish college first so that their hand might have a little money in it, before they offer it in marriage; but the complement was well received. Priscilla was able to encourage all of Avalon’s students towards the accomplishment of their dreams, sharing advice from her own experience that “the only person who has the authority to decide your future is you!”  She also offered that “If you finish college and still can’t decide where to work, always remember that, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!”