It was Spring of 2005. Tick-tock…RRRRIIINNNGGG!!! Now it’s 2:55pm…the El Dorado Elementary School bell blares sharply into the empty hallways and resonates onto the sloping blacktop school yard. I’m not in the glitzy Marina; I’m not in the breezy Sunset. Cross the city with me and relish in the moment when thin shadows and sun rays dance into the rolling Visitacion Valley where just a few blocks are all housing projects. I close my eyes to prepare…ahhhh there it is…the sound of little feet tapping down the stairs quickly thickens into THUMP THUMP THUMP like galloping horses to the finish line. And me…counting down to greet my team of students in the cafeteria. (Deep breaths Emily, smile Emily I say) Alas! My vibrant and sassy 4th and 5th graders have arrived…”Coach Em & Em!” the girls cheer…it’s time for America SCORES literacy class.
I used to work in downtown San Francisco, immersed in the dot com frenzy of this company and that company. I was a Media Buyer for a big ad agency and oh, how I loved Tuesday bagel days where I got to mingle with other 20 somethings like me, imagining myself living the life like a Melrose episode. I would often glance at my watch, waiting for the next happy hour with the friends in my department. This would go on, year after year. My professional life working for a big company. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, succeeded, met great people, and even relished in the occasional concert and basketball game. But there was always something missing. I wanted more. Funny how life takes you on a journey. It was my time and moment for the right doors to open. I said goodbye to my mechanical corporate life and became a literacy coach for America SCORES Bay Area in Spring 2005.
Oh boy was I challenged. And my my my how inspired and humbled I became. Working with 14 public elementary school girls was not easy!! Name-calling, she said this and she said that, drama, cussing, tears, loneliness, joy, multiplication tables…oh, God. What did I get myself into? I won’t lie, the first two weeks were tough. I wasn’t crunching numbers from a 12 page Excel report anymore….oh, no! I was Coach Em & Em and I was the role model and leader for a group of charming, lovable, loud, talkative, and creative young ladies. I was their literacy after-school teacher and someway, somehow, I was their inspiration for a few days a week. I did it. I realized I was going through a major transition in my life and I loved every minute of it.
Now fast forward, it’s 2012. I never left America SCORES. As Associate Director I look back and see the colorful memories I have from my days as a coach.
I wonder how my students from El Dorado are doing. Whatever happened to Marissa, my star soccer player and hard-working poet who had four other siblings and a troubling home life? What about Vaneeka, who was a leader in her own way but was always getting reprimanded by me or the principal? What about adorable Brianna and the studious Lucy? They are in high school somewhere. Would they remember me if they ran into me at the park or at the store?
There is something to be said about how America SCORES not only changes the lives of the students in our program, but also folks like me. Ask Coach Angela, Coach Rudy, Coach Marco and…well the list goes on…
Emily Queliza
Associate Director
I used to work in downtown San Francisco, immersed in the dot com frenzy of this company and that company. I was a Media Buyer for a big ad agency and oh, how I loved Tuesday bagel days where I got to mingle with other 20 somethings like me, imagining myself living the life like a Melrose episode. I would often glance at my watch, waiting for the next happy hour with the friends in my department. This would go on, year after year. My professional life working for a big company. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it, succeeded, met great people, and even relished in the occasional concert and basketball game. But there was always something missing. I wanted more. Funny how life takes you on a journey. It was my time and moment for the right doors to open. I said goodbye to my mechanical corporate life and became a literacy coach for America SCORES Bay Area in Spring 2005.
Oh boy was I challenged. And my my my how inspired and humbled I became. Working with 14 public elementary school girls was not easy!! Name-calling, she said this and she said that, drama, cussing, tears, loneliness, joy, multiplication tables…oh, God. What did I get myself into? I won’t lie, the first two weeks were tough. I wasn’t crunching numbers from a 12 page Excel report anymore….oh, no! I was Coach Em & Em and I was the role model and leader for a group of charming, lovable, loud, talkative, and creative young ladies. I was their literacy after-school teacher and someway, somehow, I was their inspiration for a few days a week. I did it. I realized I was going through a major transition in my life and I loved every minute of it.
Now fast forward, it’s 2012. I never left America SCORES. As Associate Director I look back and see the colorful memories I have from my days as a coach.
I wonder how my students from El Dorado are doing. Whatever happened to Marissa, my star soccer player and hard-working poet who had four other siblings and a troubling home life? What about Vaneeka, who was a leader in her own way but was always getting reprimanded by me or the principal? What about adorable Brianna and the studious Lucy? They are in high school somewhere. Would they remember me if they ran into me at the park or at the store?
There is something to be said about how America SCORES not only changes the lives of the students in our program, but also folks like me. Ask Coach Angela, Coach Rudy, Coach Marco and…well the list goes on…
Emily Queliza
Associate Director
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