The recipient of a 2006/2009 International Service Fellowship, Evelyn Rojas traveled on her own for the first time the summer after her sophomore year at Williams to Córdoba, Spain, as a volunteer for the Red Cross. The experience in part inspired her poem “The Jewelry Stand,” which won a Dunbar Student Life Prize in April. She was also inspired by “having conversations with many different students who wanted their voices, their struggles, to be heard,” she says. “This is where this poem steps in.”
I stare
At the jewelry stand
The jewelry stand with the brass-like plump little bird that serves as decoration
The jewelry stand that holds all my earrings and bracelets—
My treasures from far, far away
And as I do
Memories of traveling
To Spain, Uganda, Chile, Argentina, and Nicaragua
Appear in my head
And I begin to think
How lucky, How grateful, How blessed I am
For having the opportunity to travel
To 5 countries during
My 4-year stay
At Williams
But sometimes
When life gets to you
When you compare yourself to others
Compare, compare, compare
When your mind begins to cloud with thoughts
Negative thoughts that make you feel in knots
You think how
5 countries is nothing
And all of a sudden you feel a slight sting
For there are those who have traveled the whole world
Maybe even twice around
For there are those who began to travel as a child
For there are those who think of traveling as second nature
Not as a rare opportunity
Like for me
Like for others on campus
Like for us who never saw traveling as an option
Not even as a dream
Before coming to Williams
But just when I begin to lose hope
Just when I feel like my slump will never end
I remember
If there is one thing Williams taught me
It’s that the definition of success isn’t
Merriam-Webster’s definition
“Achieving wealth, respect, or fame”
Success can mean a million different things
People at Williams come from all realms of life
All types of circumstances, circumstances, circumstances
All types of realities, realities, realities
And that is why success is a little word
that to allocate it with one definition would be absurd
Success has many meanings
That involve many feelings
To a single student
To a small group
To the whole campus
Success is getting through Family Days when your parents can’t come
And you start feeling anything but numb
Because they’re 18 hours away
Or because they’re 2 hours away and can’t afford the ticket
Success is passing a Division 3 class
Success is being able to fight depression—
to have the willpower to go to class in the first place
Success is being able to fall into a deep sleep without anxiety taking over the hours of the night
Success is getting into the Ph.D. program of your dreams
Success is getting the job of your dreams
Success is being able to graduate in the first place
Success is learning a completely new language
Success is not losing your Spanish proficiency because you read and write in English 24/7
Success is being proud of dressing differently, eating differently, speaking differently
Success is chasing after your goals ambitiously
Success is coming out to your friends and conservative parents
Success is juggling with classes + a sport + work-study
And trying your best to keep your head from getting muddy
Success is admitting that you need to talk to someone
Because you no longer find anything fun
Success is finding a way to bring at least one family member to your graduation
Because you’ve worked hard for your education
Success is what YOU make of it
What makes you satisfied
What makes you feel pride
Let this poem be a guide
Success is creating a poem
that can express how many students feel
Listen up! This is the deal:
We are all unique
Therefore, to compare is just not fair.
I stare
At the jewelry stand
The jewelry stand with the brass-like plump little bird that serves as decoration
The jewelry stand that holds all my earrings and bracelets—
My treasures from far, far away
The brass-like plump little bird guards my treasures and my memories of traveling
Just like this poem guards my hope from straying
Evelyn Rojas ’16 is working as a social services caseworker for the nonprofit Heartland Alliance in her hometown of Chicago, where she’s assisting immigrant children and teens from Central America.
