First generation student gains citizenship and inspires change across campus
Grace Mestad |
From an early age, Jhoselin Revolorio knew that she was called to make big changes in the world.
As a child in Guatelmala, she dreamed of one day going to college and becoming a lawyer. However, she knew the path ahead would take great determination and discipline.
Today, Revolorio is well on her way to fulfilling that dream as a junior law, justice and society major at Lipscomb. Plus, she recently became a legal United States citizen. However, the road to get there has had several difficult and discouraging turns.
At age nine, Revolorio and her family left their life in Guatemala to pursue a better, safer life in Nashville.
Starting over in a new country, where nothing was familiar, was difficult for Revolorio. Kids in her class often teased her because of her accent and inability to understand English, which made making friends a daunting task.
Revolorio began to feel more and more out of place as the school years continued. Learning English was difficult and she felt as though her school had shown little interest in assisting her. Many days ended in tears as Revolorio begged her parents to move back to Guatemala.
Those days came to an end when she found the support she had long needed in Chad High, a then-teacher at Hattie Cotton Elementary and a Lipscomb alumnus, whom Revolorio called Señor Alto (since she couldn’t pronounce his name in English.) High constantly encouraged Revolorio to keep pushing forward, and not to give up on her dream to become a lawyer, especially when things seemed impossible.
High’s encouragement and personal interest in her well-being inspired Revolorio to persevere, and she entered Brick Church College Preperatory and later Maplewood High School with renewed excitement about attending college, which was by now just right around the corner.
Unlike most of her classmates, Revolorio was unable to visit various college campuses because both her parents worked full time. However, this did not stop her from gaining insight about potential opportunities for her future.
During her high school’s college fair, Revolorio eagerly walked around each booth anxious to learn about each college and their opportunities. In the back of her mind, Revolorio knew that because she was not a citizen of the United States, the potential for her to qualify for financial aid was low.
However, just as she was leaving, she came across a table for Lipscomb University, the same university that High had graduated from (although she did not know that at the time). What she did know was that the Lipscomb representative was the only one to tell her that although she was not a U.S. citizen, there were still privately funded financial aid opportunities at Lipscomb that she could qualify for. The admissions rep helped her fill out her application and encouraged Revolorio to come visit Lipscomb’s campus.
In that moment she realized that it was God’s plan that brought her to the Lipscomb table. “My place was at Lipscomb,” said Revolorio. “The minute I walked on campus for my campus tour something told me that this was home — this was where I was meant to be.”
As Revolorio navigated her freshman year at Lipscomb, she began to really enjoy her new life. However, as her sophomore year was coming to a close, she “received a call that my family could no longer afford to send me to Lipscomb,” said Revolorio.
But before she had found a solution for this new challenge, a chance meeting with Lipscomb’s Senior Vice President for Student Life McDowell allowed Revolorio to describe her plight, and McDowell told her he would see what he could do.
“I’ve never had someone other than my parents tell me that things would be okay, that they would help me figure it out,” said Revolorio. “But Scott, he told me not to worry because he’d make it work.”
And help, he did.
McDowell was able to help Revolorio find the funds to return to Lipscomb for her junior year this year and help ease the burden of her college expenses.
Revolorio explained that her meeting with Scott McDowell was just the push she needed to be sure nothing else could stop her from attending Lipscomb — Revolorio decided that she was going to apply for United States citizenship.
“The decision wasn’t easy,” Revolorio said. “But with the support and help of Lisa Steele (assistant dean of intercultural affairs), I was able to apply and receive U.S. citizenship (in September).”
“It has been such an honor and blessing not only to help Jhoselin, but to become a mentor for her,” said Steele, assistant dean and director of intercultural development at Lipscomb. “She is using her story to evoke a positive change across campus in such a God honoring way.”
Revolorio is now using her experience to help others. She is currently the vice president of the Lipscomb chapter of The League of United Latin American Citizens and secretary of Futuro, an inclusive organization that engages Latino college students in the process of professional development on campus.
Revolorio’s ability to persevere trial-after-trial has inspired many across Lipscomb’s campus.
“We’re always looking for big blessings from God, but really he’s always blessing us, even in the smallest of ways,” said Revolorio. “He blessed me with Scott, Lisa and the Lipscomb community, and I honestly couldn’t have done this without them.”