We take delight in the many young people who have been through Stairway’s programs over the years. Be it the Family Home Program, a Youth for Change Camp, or a Sea Adventure School trip, in their own way, they have allowed what they have learned in Stairway to be the guiding force in their lives. Below is a letter from one such person.
Dearest Stairway
With the graduation of my classmates in less than a month (my hopeful graduation is in December), I have been attempting to dedicate energy to reflection and you have come to mind in this process.
I came to Harvard after high school feeling like I was taking a step in a direction away from art and dance and towards medicine. I did a full year of pre-med classes and studied abroad in Neurobiology only to come face to face with moments like my time at Stairway that brought me very close to my passion for arts education and using the arts for social change.
It is now four years after I was accepted to Harvard and I see the journey that has brought me closer to the arts and you have been the key driver in this path after I felt the magic on Stairway.
My summer search this year was guided on exploring the space of arts education. I was recently offered an internship with Disney’s Broadway arts education branch and was excitedly looking at opportunities with Americans for the Arts, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and the Department of Cultural Affairs in Miami.
The world works in interesting ways and I have accepted a summer offer from Google’s People Operations department in their California headquarters and I am excited to step out of my comfort zone and continue learning (and to connect with opportunities to dance while in San Francisco!). I will remain connected to the arts through a (virtual) summer internship with Guitars over Guns in Miami.
I was recently granted the incredible and humbling honor of being featured in this post (http://www.businessinsider.com/impressive-students-at-harvard-right-now-2016-4) and I want to thank you for helping me along my journey and being a special force in my path thus far.
Thank you, Stairway and sending all the best,
Javier
You can also watch Javier’s Ted X Youth Miami (February 26, 2016) presentation here http://www.tedxyouthmiami.com/home.html where he talks about “the Work of Art in the World” 1:08:26