NEXT UP! 2 210 The Scholarship Jacket The small Texas school that I went to had a tradition carried out every year during the eighth-grade graduation: a beautiful gold and green jacket (the school colors) was awarded to the class valedictorian, the student who had maintained the highest grades for eight years. The scholarship jacket had a big gold S on the left front side and your name written in gold letters on the pocket. My oldest sister, Rosie, had won the jacket a few years back, and I fully expected to also. I was fourteen and in the eighth grade. I had been a straight A student since the first grade and this last year had looked forward very much to owning that jacket. My father was a farm laborer who couldn’t earn enough money to feed eight children, so when I was six I was given to my grandparents to raise. We couldn’t participate in sports at school because there were registration fees, uniform costs, and trips out of town; so, even though our family was quite agile and athletic there would never be a school sports jacket for us. This one, the scholarship jacket, was our only chance. In May, close to graduation, spring fever had struck as usual with a vengeance. No one paid any attention in class; instead we stared out of the windows and at each other, wanting to speed up the last few weeks of school. I despaired every time I looked in the mirror. Pencil thin, not a curve anywhere. I was called “beanpole” and “string bean”, and I knew that’s what I looked like. A flat chest, no hips, and a brain; that’s what I had. That really wasn’t much for a fourteen-year-old to work with, I thought, as I absentmindedly wandered from my history class to the gym. Another hour of sweating in basketball and displaying my toothpick legs was coming up. Then I remembered my P.E. shorts were still in a bag under my desk where I’d forgotten them. I had to walk all the way back and get them. Coach Thompson was a real bear if someone wasn’t dressed for P.E. She had said I was a good forward and even tried to talk Grandma into letting me join the team once. Of course Grandma said no. Before reading What is your dream for the future? What could stand in the way of you reaching that goal? Freewrite for a couple of minutes. a scholarship – námsstyrkur to carry out – framkvæma to award – verðlauna valedictorian – nemandi sem heldur ræðu við útskrift to maintain – viðhalda to raise – ala upp to participate – taka þátt a registration fee – skráningargjald agile – lipur with a vengeance – af miklum krafti absent-mindedly – gleyminn P.E. (physical education) – íþróttir a forward – framherji Marta Salinas (1949–) was born in California. She has published several short stories in both journals and anthologies.
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