Tiana

"I’m just being the person I wanted to see in the world."

By Students of NYC

January 5^th, 2024

"You can't control a lot of things in life. Being on time is something you can control. I come in about an hour and half early every morning. I live in the Bronx, so it takes me a good 40 minutes to get here, but I come in early for two reasons. One, I help my aunt and drop off my cousin who goes to elementary school near here. But on days I don't, I still come in early because I love helping Ms. Zellers. I feel like the teachers do so much for us, so I try to help them in the little ways I can. Let me make the copies for you. Let me grade this for you. You need help rearranging your classroom? Here, I got you. I feel like these are small things I can do to take a little bit off their workload. I'm not a “big things” person. How can I help this one person do this one thing? That’s how I like making the difference.

I always wanted someone to be that person for me as a child, to just say, how can I help? My mom is a single mom; she works long hours. She’s the type to go in early and stay late — I get my work ethic from her. So I became that person. I became the person where you don't even ask me. I will ask you, do you need help? How can I help you? How can I assist you?And for me, it's never been about the big things. Like my mom, she wakes up every morning early to iron my clothes, no matter what. That matters. So I try to do small, intimate things. But I'm not doing it for the sake of doing something good. I'm just being the person I wanted to see in the world.

I’m a creative person. I'm used to working with limited resources, so I'm used to planning things out with not having a lot of stuff. I created a Google doc where teachers can put when they need help with something, and then kids can sign up. Because I spend my mornings with my teachers; I sit down and have discussions with them. It’s like, I see your day to day. I see you in the morning preparing your lesson. Sometimes I see them in the classroom doing the lesson and then I see afterwards how the lesson has affected them, whether it was a good one or the students participated or it's been a rough day. So I understand the process of what they go through and how much it is on them. It's just a Google doc, but students always sign up, and it always provides help. Sometimes people think positions of power have to make the changes and it's always on them. And they should; but as individuals, we can each make a change of our own. We just have to have the confidence and the attitude to start it. The hardest thing to do is to start. Once you start, you keep going.

When I grow up, I want to be a nonprofit manager because then I can give back to my community. Also, I'll be making enough money so my future kids can live comfortably. I never want to be rich. I always want to be middle class so I could still hold onto the desire of wanting and still be humbled in my work. I feel like, what would I do if I'm rich? Who would I be? My creativity stems from having limited resources. My desire to help is because I wanted help and I'm like, I can't see myself just wealthy in a mansion. I'd rather be in a nice apartment living my life. I feel like you need to struggle to be successful, and I don't want that to be taken away from me. Plus, I like when you save up and you work so hard and then see it come to be. Honestly, those have been the best moments of my life.

Central Park East High School, it's just amazing. Everyone is welcome here. All ethnicities, all races, all religious beliefs. When I walk into the school, I always think of it like a bubble, like a protection from the outside world. We're allowed to be who we want to be in this school building. Whereas in the real world, we may not be able to. Outside, I’m the shy Tiana. But in here, I can show my whole self. Tiana — the biggest kid. Tiana with the very corny jokes, Tiana who’s a little crazy sometimes, and Tiana who is lovable and just a big weirdo. The true me. And the teachers here? They will stop and have a conversation with you if they feel like there’s something going on. They can tell if anything is off, and they’re like, 'Okay, we need to talk.' They are all so open and they show us who they are. That makes us comfortable showing them who we are."