The following quotes have inspired the development of the Urban Scholars Program.  Please choose one of the quotes from the short essay category and write an essay as it applies to your personal experiences.

It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is a sin.

  Benjamin E. Mays, Educator

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.

  Henry David Thoreau, Author

If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

  Audre Lorde, Author

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Cesar Chavez, Activist

You can do anything you want to, it’s easy, the hardest part is that you have to believe you can do it, the rest is a piece of cake.

    Jaime Escalante, Educator

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.

    Frederick Douglass, Activist