East Oakland Student Eyes College After Excelling In Dangerous Environment
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- At Arise High School in the Fruitvale district of East Oakland, I recently saw something I'd never seen before. There is a shelf in a hallway that serves as a memorial for the students who have died. Marlen Canales showed us a couple of people she knows, whose pictures sit on that shelf. "Jabrille was shot in Oakland by a drive-by, waiting for the bus," she explained, pointing to one photo. "Alejandro was shot … drive by," she added.
Arise is an academic oasis - a vibrant college prep school located in the new building complex next to the Fruitvale BART Station, made infamous by the Oscar Grant shooting. The memorial in its hallway perfectly reflects the concerns of many of the students there.
Marlen's two brothers are both in gangs. Her face showed no emotion as she said, "I live with fear. I don't show it because you're not allowed to."
Her Spanish teacher, Santos Zuniga, described just how dangerous life is in the neighborhood. "Two weeks ago, they murdered two young kids, 22 years old and 24 years old, two blocks away from Marlen's house and the week before they killed another two," he said. Marlen has been shot at twice, both drive-by shootings. She said she could hear one bullet as it whizzed right by her head.
But at Arise High, Marlen has found a completely different world. She's a straight-A student. When we asked her if she's ever gotten a B, she replied, "Yes, one B in 6th grade." Marlen calls Arise High the "real world" - a world of books and teachers who launch her mind far beyond her neighborhood. "At school, I feel like my words matter. I am someone," she said. "I feel like I can be someone and what I'm working for has a purpose."
FIND OUT MORE: Students Rising Above
Zuniga sees Marlen as a role model and a change-maker. "What Marlen is able to do, or what Marlen is working towards is creating a new normal; changing the paradigm she lives in and when she grows up, I hope that the normal thing for any young Latino or Latina, or African American student is to go to college," said Zuniga.
But right outside the school's door is another relentless reality. There were 77 murders in Oakland by November 2015. Almost all of them were in West Oakland, or East Oakland where Marlen lives. According to Zuniga, gangs in the Fruitvale district are a part of daily life for many of the students. "Their older brothers, their cousins are involved in these gangs," said Zuniga. "So they don't see them as something bad. They see them as normal."
Until Marlen became a Student Rising Above, she said she thought her life as normal. Only after she saw her advisor's reaction as she read Marlen's personal statement did she begin to realize it was not normal at all. "I am in danger. It's wrong. It's something that I needed to talk about," she said.
In that complicated mix of emotions is also the love Marlen has for her brothers. She's worried about them and has tried talking to them, as have her parents again and again. "I've shown them that I care, but hey see it as their family against them" With resignation and tears in her eyes she added, "No one can stop it, except themselves."
Marlen works hard to find another way. After school, she interns with a non-profit called the "Youth Brigade." When we visited, Marlen was leading a discussion on ways to improve their community. And at Arise High, the school is dedicated to creating what Zuniga calls intellectual warriors. "They are in training to overcome any problems in our community."
At home, Marlen also faces a cultural challenge, as some of her family members don't consider her schoolwork "real" work. "Marlen's work is not seen as real work because it's not bringing money to the home," said Zuniga. Still, Marlen persists with her schoolwork and her goal of becoming a doctor. "If I don't keep working for what I can't, nobody is going to give me what I want," she said. "I have to work for it."
"She carries the hope of her community on her back right now," Zuniga said, "and that's a tough decision for a young 17-year-old girl."
Marlen will start applying to colleges soon. She knows education is the key, "(It) will get me to where I need to be," she said. "It will get me where I want to be."
Zuniga put it this way, "She is the rose that grew from concrete."
