Rad Old Dude by Oliver

Rad Old Dude by Oliver - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

I have had many teachers throughout my years in education, but there is one that stands out above the rest in terms of impact. In my senior year of high school, I had a professor by the name of Mr. Borden. Borden was a rad old dude. He had a very dry, very British sense of humor, which was all the more notable given that he taught English classes. I took his college level dual-enrollment high school course as a senior– ENG 110/111 – and came away from it with a much deeper appreciation for both reading and writing.
He spoke at length about English in terms of its value to the individual, and was generally quite convincing. Often he would preface that yes, it is his field of study, so yes, he does just quite like it, however, proficiency in writing also has very obvious benefits– even the STEM fields require you to write applications, and being able to assess and build arguments is 111’s entire curriculum. As an aspiring STEM major, this was very compelling. I decided to take the class as seriously as I could. Mr. Borden made this easy– he was incredibly supportive, and provided piles of useful feedback on my writing works. He was not shy about marking down grammatical errors or flawed argument structures, something that really helped me to grow as a writer. Though it was initially a struggle, I am incredibly proud to say that I passed 110/111 with As.
I also came away from these courses determined to enroll in my local community college. Mr. Borden spoke often and dismissively of the college he was accredited to work for. I have some specific memories of him recounting all the benefits and reasons why Santa Barbara City College was the place to be. As a local high school student, the first two years are free to attend after graduating, it has one of the highest rates of transfer, it offers credential programs, since we’re in 110/111 we already have credits there… all of this listed in his off-hand, mild tone.
When the time came to leave my high school and start considering my future, I remembered his advice and enrolled in my first semester at SBCC. I would have wasted my time and money applying for programs with far more prestige (and the cost to match) if he had not been so clear about the many, many reasons why community college was a very reasonable choice. I ended up studying at SBCC for two years exactly– I applied to transfer to UC Berkeley on a whim and ended up getting accepted! At the time I had applied, I had a 3.21 GPA, and a 2.33 major specific GPA. I think I got in on the merit of my essays alone; I had no extra-curriculars, no job, and only two of the five required math courses completed. I spent my final year cramming my class schedule as full as it could reasonably get. I ended up graduating with honors and four degrees total (associates in Mathematics, Data Science, and two for Liberal Arts). I never would have gotten this far without his indifferent façade and earnest encouragement, and I am forever grateful for all he did for me.