| When sixth-grader Arlill Rodriguez stepped on stage at our event on November 1st, he had no idea that someone from a prestigious private school was there to hear him speak. He was just focusing on getting through his speech with a bad case of the nerves. “Oh, it was ‘nervous-city’ to stand up |
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According to Eric Eisner, director of REEP (the Richstone Edu cation Enterprise Program) and the person responsible for introducing Arlill to Gregory, he doesn’t come like this veryoften. “While you’re talking to him, you have to remind yourself that you’re speaking to someone |
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where he plans on learning
languages like French and Latin. When asked if he was “nervous- city” about attending a new school, he replied, “No, it’s a beautiful school and really cool. Okay, I’m a little nervous because it’s so humongous! I’m gonna get lost, is all I have to say!” |
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who’s twelve,” he said. “The conversations I’ve had with this boy have been as candid and articulate as with any adult I know. I was |
in front of allthose people,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I had to do such a thing! But I did it… and it was fun.”
Nervous or not, Arlill’s speech so affected Elizabeth Gregory, director of admissions at the Harvard-Westlake school, that she decided to offer him admission on the spot. “I was very impressed with the poise he had to be able to get up in front of all those people and to be so articulate and warm and funny. It was incredibly touching,” she remembers. |
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completely flabbergasted when I first met him.”
After the event, Elizabeth had a chance to interview Arlill herself. “He came to the school here and he’s just a great little guy,” she said. “He is very eager to learn and is grateful to have the opportunity to attend a school like Harvard Westlake. I think he will be a good role model for kids here his age that take their own opulence for granted.”
Arlill is excited about starting the seventh grade at HW this fall |
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Arlill
