Assumption student swims her way to the top

By William T. Clew

If you were to come to the United States with your mother and younger brother when you were 12 years old, not knowing how to speak English, what are the odds that, seven years later, you would meet and talk with the President of the United States in the Oval Office in the White House?

The odds would be one in a million.

Carolina Correa of Pawtucket, R.I., is that one. She is a freshman at Assumption College who was named Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Youth of the Year. She is the 63rd young person and the first Hispanic female to win the award, according to the BGCA.

That means for one year she will be a spokesperson for the 4.5 million young persons served each year by the organization. The title also includes $26,000 in scholarships from the Readers Digest Foundation, founding sponsor of the program, the BGCA said.

She and her mother and brother left Medellin, Colombia, and came to Pawtucket to be with family. She said that, not knowing English and not having friends here, she didn’t want to stay. But stay she did and began trying to fit in to her new surroundings.
First she learned English. In seventh grade she attended English-as-a-Second-Language classes. One of the ways she learned the language and built her vocabulary was by dividing each notebook page in half and copying lessons in English on one side. Then, at home, she translated the English into Spanish on the other half of the page.
She also learned the language by watching soap operas and cartoons on television. And, she learned from her friends, all of whom spoke English. She said she wanted to get out of the English as a Second Language class as soon as she could. After one year she did, and began to take Advanced Placement courses in school.

Mathematics was not much of a problem for her because math concepts and numbers are pretty much the same in any language. History was a problem at first because it requires lots of reading in English. But it became a favorite subject, she said.

At home, she said, she spoke Spanish and helped her brother, two years younger, and her mother learn English. And, she improved her own English by joining the Boys & Girls Club in Pawtucket.

“That helped a lot,” she said. “It was the first time I felt accepted.”

Even though she could barely swim, she joined the club’s swim team in order to take part in an activity. That year she learned to swim well enough to be chosen the club’s swimmer of the year. It was the first of three such titles she won, according to the BGCA.

Carolina swam on the club team and on the Charles E. Shea High School team. Swimmers are no longer eligible to swim for the club team when they reach age 18, she said. So the club hired her to teach swimming. She started a program called Splash which has spread to other clubs in Rhode Island. It is for youngsters who cannot afford to pay for swimming lessons.

She said she started with 15 youngsters. Splash now has about 50 youngsters and two other coaches. It’s the most diverse team in the state, she said. Last summer the team was undefeated in competition.

“It was one of my biggest accomplishments,” she said. “It’s the most fulfilling feeling that I made someone better.”

That job brought her some income. But, in addition, she volunteered at a state swimming pool near her home last summer to teach swimming.

That sounds like a pretty full plate, but it was only a part of what Carolina was involved in. During her time in high school she mentored freshmen and tutored students. She was nominated to the City of Pawtucket Teen Hall of Fame, according to the BGCA. She received the Rhode Island Presidential Student of the Year Award and was inducted into the National Honor Society of High School Scholars. And, she graduated from high school in the top 3 percent of her class.

She also volunteered at the International Institute of Rhode Island in Providence, where she helped immigrants learn English, fill out forms and applications for citizenship and prepare for citizenship interviews.

She is a U.S. citizen and, she said, she wanted to give back to others.

“I learned so much,” she said, “and I met people who do work hard.”

She also decided to try for the BCGA Youth of the Year. At first she was a little reluctant when she was told she would have to write “lots of essays.” But then she decided, “oh, OK, I’ll do it.” There were lots of essays, 11 in all, before she was done. She also had to do interviews. And all of it was in January.

She won Youth of the Year for her Pawtucket club. Then, against eight or nine other clubs in the state, she won the Rhode Island title. Then came the Northeast competition against the other New England states, plus Puerto Rico and Europe. Again she won. And finally, in competition with the nominees from five regions of the United States, she was named the national winner.

What did she take from that victory?

“I’m so glad I met all those kids,” she said. “Those kids are inspirational. They inspire me to do more.”

After that she went to Washington, D.C., where she visited the White House and met President Obama.

“It was just after he had won the Nobel Peace Prize,” she said. “He made me feel like I won the Nobel. He was so down to earth.”

They talked for about 20 minutes, she said. Being there and meeting “the most powerful man on earth was inspirational.”

She also has done interviews with CNN, represents Cox Communications with John Walsh to help youngsters avoid some of the pitfalls of their young lives, and took part in a documentary Fox TV did about her. She said a camera crew followed her to classes and covered one of her swim meets.

Carolina said she visited 10 colleges, including the College of the Holy Cross and Anna Maria College. She said she picked Assumption College because “I felt at home. Everything felt right.” The student guide who showed prospective students the campus was “so nice.” The school, she said, is family oriented. And it has a swimming team.

She said her family couldn’t afford to send her to Catholic schools in Pawtucket. She wanted to attend a Catholic college.

“I’m curious about religion and I want to be closer to God,” she said.

Swimming takes a big chunk of time, too. Mondays through Fridays the swimmers, under the direction of Coach Stuart Cromarty, do weights and cardio workouts in the gym from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. and swim from 4 to 6 p.m. On Saturdays they are in the pool from 8 to 10 a.m. and then hit the gym until noon. She swims all strokes but picks backstroke as her best.

All this can make for a busy day. Recently, she and the rest of the swimming team returned from a swim meet against the University of Maine in Orono at about 1 a.m. That morning she went to Pawtucket to make a presentation, returned to Assumption to finish a paper for an 11:30 a.m. class, attended a History of Western Civilization class until about 2 p.m., took part in hour-long interview until 3:30 p.m. and them went to swimming practice.

Because of her schedule, she said, she is taking only four honors courses this year. She wants a double major in psychology and political science, she said. As a freshmen she still is getting used to college life. Her National BCGA Youth of the Year title requires her to fit appearances into her schedule. She said the professors are very supportive and accommodating. Assumption is satisfying in every way, she said.