Yaritssa Elisalde (Garfield-7th Period)

                     All communities have a hero. A person who works at John Hancock as a social worker and someone who people look up as a hero would be Yaritssa Elizalde. Besides going to school and listening to other students lives, she likes to watch and play soccer when she has enough time. Yaritssa has been a social worker for almost four to five years. She helps students with their writing, and joined a program called ESL because she felt that students needed help in English.
                          Yaritssa Elizalde as a social worker, loves talking to students. She also likes hearing what they go through in life. We asked her how she earned what she has right now in life and she responded,  “If you want something in the future, you’re going to have to earn it, so what I did in life during college is go to school and learn in order for me to earn my college degree.” Yaritssa faced a lot of challenges in life; her parents didn’t give her support. They gave her a disapproving look because of what she is right now. Her parents expected her to be a teacher. Yaritssa did whatever she could have done, to get her education.
                       Above all, Ms.Elizalde values friends, family, and education. When we asked her why she values education she responded by saying, “Education is the key to a lot of things in life.” For example, wherever you go, such as to go apply for a job they look at your school records. School helps you get in good jobs. Elizalde was not the best student in her class, but she did her best to get the education she needed in order for her to become a great therapist. She reached her goals to where she is right now. She never thought she would be what she is right now.
                  Many people have different definitions for heroism. Our hero, for instance, said that she defines heroism as “someone who does something for someone. Someone who helps other people that makes a change in their life.”   In order to be a hero, you have to prove other people wrong. You also have to make a change in life, and prove people you’re not like any other. Her advice for young students was to go to school and learn, not to just sit around and play around with students, but to sit and hear and do what teachers tell us to do.

Written by Guadalupe H.