The icing on the cake
I have always been interested in healthcare. My dad is a nurse. My mom is a radiology technician. My aunt is a pediatrician. As the eldest of four siblings and seven cousins, I also grew to love kids. When I was a child, if you’d asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you I wanted to be a pediatrician just like my aunt.
During most of my childhood summers, I spent time with my grandparents in Jackson, Mississippi. Much of what I remember about Jackson as a kid were the countless potholes on the road, the boarded-up buildings, and – to this day – the high poverty rate. From learning that these things don’t “coincidentally” or “accidentally” correlate with lower high school graduation rates, I understood at an early age that education was very important. My mother always told us, “If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem.” And I knew I needed to be a part of the solution.
“If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re a part of the problem.”
I took my first job as a tutor in a local community college where I was enrolled. I tutored students who had worked their entire careers but were returning to college because they needed a degree to maintain their positions. I tutored students who would spend hours studying, in addition to working a job and raising their kids—all while struggling to earn a passing grade on their exams. I tutored students who ranked third in their high school graduating class yet found it challenging to make a desirable score on their SAT.
This meant to me that the issue wasn’t that students weren’t working hard enough, but rather that there were gaps, blockages, or pitfalls that made it significantly harder for them to succeed. This wasn’t entirely new to me. Growing up in a diverse suburb in Atlanta, Georgia, this was the reality I lived and saw everyday.
Marce Arnejo is part of the Sales team at Dreambound. Her role involves seeking out schools and institutions to provide valuable opportunities for students seeking a career in the healthcare sector. Beyond her professional life, Marce is passionate about music and gaming. She finds joy in exploring various genres of music and using gaming to unwind and immerse herself in virtual worlds. Her diverse interests enrich her personal life and contribute to her work by bringing new ideas and creativity.
