LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Estacado High School has a tradition where freshman students write letters to their future selves.
Josue Espinoza, the school’s academic dean, said the tradition gives students an opportunity to overcome adversities.
“We ask our students to truly reflect on what it is they want initially, to look at the small goal first,” Espinoza said. “The small goal a lot of the times is I just want to get through high school. I just want to get my freshman year done. And then understanding to reflect on who they are. We tell them, find out who you are first, and then we here at Estacado can help you grow to become what you want to be.”
Students get their letters back senior year, at a pinning ceremony toward the end of the school year. Some staff members pull the letters out earlier as a reminder for students not to give up.
“To me personally, as a first-generation college student myself, going into a world where nobody in my family had ever been in that spot before reminds me that you’re not alone, and that people believe in you,” Espinoza said. “Whenever you put that down on a letter and remind yourself of your goals, it’s a reminder that somebody believed in you at one point.”
Espinoza said the goal is to help students figure out who they want to be, then guide them there and keep them motivated along the way. Faculty and staff said they are invested in helping students reach their goals. Espinoza said it is up to each student to fill the shoes of who they want to be.
“You could see a student and some people would never even think, wow, that guy actually wants to become a doctor. That guy actually doesn’t want to do, he wants to become into a trade. He wants to become his own business owner,” Espinoza said.
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