Four years after leaving his impoverished hometown to study at Georgetown, Neal Fisher (CAS ‘06) found himself addressing an audience gathered to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this past week as the first recipient of the Legacy of a Dream Scholarship.
Fisher received the elite $25,000 scholarship for actively demonstrating leadership qualities that mirrored those of the famed civil rights leader.
As a high school student living on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Fisher once believed that his opportunities to escape poverty were limited.
“The only real options were leaving home to find a job or joining the army,” he said. “We had McDonald’s come to our career fairs.”
Coming to Georgetown, however, was not an easy decision for Fisher. Several other universities accepted him with full financial aid scholarships. Though the university awarded him financial aid, Fisher’s acceptance was contingent on the completion of summer school prior to his first fall semester.
“It was the first school that told me that I didn’t fit the bill,” Fisher said. “I took up Georgetown’s offer to prove them wrong.”
Fisher described his first year at Georgetown as “remarkably different” from anything he had ever experienced.
“You look at how people spend money here – they take things for granted,” he said.
Fisher said spending money frivolously, partying daily and shirking work were traits he did not wish to possess.
“I came here with next to nothing in my pockets,” he said. “It wasn’t my scene.”
In contrast, Fisher said he approached college as if it were a job.
“People were paying for me to be here,” he said. “I owe those people my personal effort.”
Fisher, a government major, balanced strong academics with active extracurricular involvements, such as internships with the Center for Social Justice and speeches on the hill in favor of Strengthen Our Schools, a Democratic plan to increase financial aid for college students.
He also wrote and spoke extensively on America’s rising college costs and declining federal aid, hoping to keep opportunities in higher education open to all students.
“[America] is not allowing the students to fulfill their dreams,” he said. “I wish I had the resources George Bush does, but I don’t, so I do what I can do by speaking and writing about it.”
Fisher plans to continue his studies at Georgetown University Law Center.
“In ten years I hope to be in a position where I can give back to others who do not have as much as other fortunate people do,” he said. “I’m a man of my word. If I can do it, I will.”
