Nov 12, 2019
Dr. Victor Rios’ story is one that has many twists and turns: he was in a gang, he dropped out of school, and he was incarcerated. What makes Dr. Rios’ story different is that he overcame those obstacles and he is now an award-winning sociology professor at the University of California Santa Barbara.
So, how did Dr. Rios obtain his Ph.D. and become the epitome educator, researcher, and community leader that he is today? After a life-changing incident, Dr. Rios realized was ready to change. He couldn’t do it by himself. Luckily for him, he had a teacher who cared about her students.
Her name is Ms. Russ, and Dr. Rios credits her wholeheartedly for helping him change his life. She supported, guided, and advocated for Dr. Rios. Instead of seeing him how society labeled him, Ms. Russ saw Dr. Rios with unlimited potential.
Dr. Rios is now taking what Ms. Russ saw in him and he is shining that same light on adolescents in urban areas. He has a name for the unlimited potential that his teacher saw in him: it’s called “at promise.”
Throughout his TED Talks and books, Dr. Rios espouses that we as a society start using the phrase “at promise” instead of “at risk”. His research and experience reveal that the way you label someone is the way that society is going to treat that person; and in turn, that is how that person will see him/ her self. The label “at promise” helps empower adolescents, and they start to discover the immense potential that they have within themselves.
The next time you see you a group of kids graffitiing a wall, smoking marijuana near a school, or drinking under age, instead of thinking to yourself that they are “at risk,” you will think of Dr. Rios and you will realize that they are “at promise” for a greater purpose.
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