Excerpt from Turning on the Lights: Part I.1 The Corner Man
The Corner Man says, “There is no crying in MESA, we’re in this fight to win it!”
I am very proud of my MESA Creators. They are all survivors, and they overcome many challenges throughout their academic journey. My hope for all of them is that they have the opportunity to continue their journey at the university level, where, as MESA Creators, they will be uniquely poised to enjoy many amazing opportunities. However, as their Corner Man, my goal is to toughen up each of them through the learning culture to prepare them for the challenges that they will face at the university. My opening quote about “no crying in MESA” reflects this mindset. I continuously challenge my MESA Creators to keep fighting and keep working to master the learning culture. I especially challenge my MESA Creators when they don’t think they can do something or they simply do not believe in themselves. My first-generation Latino MESA Creator Sergio Alfonso Sandoval Escobedo, who previously commuted daily across the San Diego‑Tijuana border to attend City College, got a rude welcome when he transferred to Georgia Tech University. He called to tell me he had failed the first exams in all of his classes. This disappointing and emotional experience had him questioning himself and his ability to succeed at Georgia Tech, and he asked his Corner Man for advice. I listened to him, and then I replied:
“I don’t care. I sent a scholar and a leader to Georgia Tech. You not only have what it takes, but you also own our learning culture, and I expect you to use the learning culture to create your own success. What I want to know is what are you going to do about it? Do you understand?”
He understood. The answer was learning culture, including self‑advocacy, emotional intelligence, mental toughness and goal focus. He succeeded in earning 4 A’s and 1 B in his first semester at Georgia Tech. He earned academic honors for his achievements in his first year and every year at Georgia Tech. He became a mentor to other rising scholars, and he served as a student ambassador in Georgia Tech’s Hispanic recruitment efforts. He graduated in Aerospace Engineering; he became a NASA Aerospace Engineer, and he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Aerospace Engineering. His success did not surprise me. I always believed in him, as I believe in all of my MESA Creators, but he first needed to prove to himself that he could succeed. Enjoy meeting Sergio and learning his first-generation student experience at tinyurl.com/246hte7j.
One day I came across a MESA Creator while walking on the City College campus. The student shared a challenge that he was having, and I mentored him as his Corner Man. I re-focused him on our learning culture, and I emphasized the difference between accepting responsibility, taking action, and seeking solutions vs. blaming others, complaining and making excuses. Basically, I challenged him to act like a MESA Creator. I didn’t realize that our conversation was overheard by an older City College African American male student who was sitting nearby. The student yelled out, “Yeah, that’s right! Tell him. I wish someone would have talked to me like that when I was younger.” The student understood and endorsed my message to my MESA Creator. Challenges happen in academics and in life, and when they happen, the question from your Corner Man will always be, “What are you going to do about it?”
On May 9, 2023, Dr. Sergio Alfonso Sandoval Escobedo earned his Ph.D. degree in a dual program with San Diego State University and UC San Diego. His dissertation on “Guidance and Optimization of Planetary Entry and Powered Descent” will benefit future NASA missions to the moon and Mars. Dr. Sergio is now an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.