{"id":13335,"date":"2020-03-11T00:58:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T06:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=13335"},"modified":"2020-03-11T00:58:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T06:58:38","slug":"if-it-is-to-be-its-up-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/11\/if-it-is-to-be-its-up-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"If It Is To Be, It\u2019s Up To Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Dreamer\u2019 inspires local students<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

BY MIKE MCKENNA<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Left to right, Juan Carlos, Yojenny, Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia, and Cesar. Photo credit: Leslie Silva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am unlimited!\u201d the students roared in unison. \u201cIf it is to be, it\u2019s up to me!\u201d<\/p>\n

The students consisted of well over 400 freshmen and juniors from Wood River High School. They filled up almost every seat at the Community Campus in Hailey last Wednesday morning. They were calling out in response to Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia.<\/p>\n

The good doctor was in town to share her inspiring story. Alisha was raised in a challenging environment in Portland, Ore. But thanks to some great teachers, her own determination, and the I Have A Dream Foundation, Alisha has gone on to live a very impressive life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal here is to have a conversation, because there\u2019s so much happening in the world and we\u2019re all important,\u201d Alisha began her talk.<\/p>\n

Alisha became a Dream Scholar 25 years ago. The Idaho I Have A Dream Foundation is one of over 200 programs in 28 states. The nonprofit\u2019s goal is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to pursue higher education. They do so by empowering \u2018Dreamers\u2019 in under-resourced parts of the community to graduate from college.<\/p>\n

Thanks in part to being a Dreamer, Alisha has earned a doctorate and will be teaching at Harvard.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever been counted out \u2026 had people tell you that you can\u2019t do something?\u201d Dr. Moreland-Capuia asked the crowd as she shared her story. \u201cI could either succumb to those circumstances or I could overcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She told the students that if she could overcome such challenges, they could, too, reminding them that everyone faces challenges in life, sooner or later.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we think about ourselves is what we tell ourselves,\u201d Dr. Moreland-Capuia said. \u201cIf we change our narrative and the conversations we have with ourselves, we can change our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

With degrees focusing on psychiatry and addiction medicine in her professional life\u2014and two teen-aged daughters and a husband in her personal life\u2014Dr. Moreland-Capuia understands the mental health struggles so many of us have.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne in four students in this room struggles with something,\u201d Alicia said. \u201cJoin me in starting a movement for change \u2026 I am going to ask each of you to be kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the conversation included a discussion on racism.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacism is a concept, which means that each one of you has the power to deconstruct it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all make assumptions, but when we let those go, we can have some great experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Moreland-Capuia ended her talk by telling the students \u201cyou win in life by being a good person and by trying.\u201d She also reminded them to embrace their self-worth with another chorus of \u201cIf it is to be, it is up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is precious and important. You are important, too. You have value,\u201d Dr. Moreland-Capuia said, signing off with, \u201cGo forth and do good.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more about the local I Have A Dream Foundation, go to ihdfidaho.org.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Dreamer\u2019 inspires local students BY MIKE MCKENNA \u201cI am unlimited!\u201d the students roared in unison. \u201cIf it is to be, it\u2019s up to me!\u201d The students consisted of well over 400 freshmen and juniors from Wood River High School. They filled up almost every seat at the Community Campus in Hailey last Wednesday morning. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}