Introducing our Better Make Room Student Advisory Board Member — Ghawayne Calvin!
By: Ghawayne Calvin, Senior at Omaha Northwest High Magnet School
All month long, we will be introducing the students that make up our inaugural Better Make Room Student Advisory Board. These students are deeply and personally committed to the mission of Better Make Room and have already demonstrated their remarkable ability to create change in their own communities. In the months to come, Better Make Room’s Board members will be mobilizing their peers to build college-enrolling, college-persisting, and college-graduating cultures at their schools and on their campuses. We can’t wait to see the amazing things that they do with their platforms — the world #BetterMakeRoom for these incredible change makers!
I was born and raised in Jamaica and lived there until the age of 13. In 2013, I immigrated with my father, stepmother, and brother to Nebraska. Before coming to the United States, college was something that never crossed my mind. However, my mother always used to say that education was the only way out of poverty, and she was more than right. Our society is quickly changing and having a degree past high school has never been more important. While a higher education will never be for everyone, we must continue to encourage others to pursue an education.
The moment my College Possible coach introduced me to Better Make Room and its goal to inspire students to seek higher education; I knew this was a program I wanted to be a part of. I believe in the power of creating a college-going, college-graduating culture within the walls of my high school and district, and I know that there are no better people to promote this than students themselves. When I was chosen to serve on Better Make Room’s Student Advisory Board, I was beyond happy. I knew that the other board members were high achieving students who also believed in the power of education.
“I was speechless, yet amazed that a small island boy like me could be in the presence of such a powerful, elegant, and breathtaking woman.”
Words cannot express the joy that I felt on the day that I set foot inside the White House. I knew that I was there to serve a purpose, which is to help students like myself achieve their dreams and attend college. During the School Counselor of the Year Ceremony, I felt inspired by both the 2016 and 2017 School Counselors of the Year. The work that they have done to motivate students in their schools made me think about all of the hard work that my own school counselors had done, and continue to do for me in my classes everyday. They help students believe in themselves. I was even more surprised to meet Former First Lady Michelle Obama. I was speechless, yet amazed that a small island boy like me could be in the presence of such a powerful, elegant, and breathtaking woman. Overall, the entire event was spectacular.
“I left my first Board meeting ready to work even harder for my school and community.”
While it was an amazing experience to see the Former First Lady of the United States and meet celebrities, I could not wait for the first official board meeting to commence. Just thinking about what would be said gave me the jitters. Once the meeting began, I could not have been happier to surround myself with these sixteen other great leaders. They had all done amazing work in their respective schools, ranging from fighting for education equality among students, to inspiring their peers to go above and beyond the status quo. I left my first Board meeting ready to work even harder for my school and community.
My main goal as a Better Make Room Student Advisory Board member is to educating my peers about financial aid and other opportunities to help students get a higher education. There are many students that fear this process for reasons ranging from having low grades to believing that their families make too much money. I want to help educate those students and show them that nothing beats a person who tries. I always say “the worst you can receive is a no.”
Ghawayne Calvin is a senior at Omaha Northwest High Magnet School in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born and raised in Jamaica but immigrated to the United States with his family in 2013. Ghawayne is a LEDA Scholar, a College Possible student, a member of student government, an Ambassador for the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission, a Relay for Life Team Captain, and a founding member of the Omaha Student Voices Advisory Council. His passion for health led him to create the Youth Expressions of Health Club at his high school. Ghawayne believes that attending college will be the first step to accomplishing his goal of becoming a surgeon and changing the lives of his family.
