Minneapolis student learns for the love of it

By Matthew Aguilar of Patrick Henry High School

Sitting at his desk in the sun on the first day of school, Rattana Sengsoulichanh stared straight ahead. His materials were all lined up next to him; a pencil beside an open notebook. As the teacher explained his goals for the year, the 17-year-old at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis looked ready and excited for the challenges ahead.

In a district where only 52 percent of high school students graduate in four years with a regular diploma, Sengsoulichanh is a star.

A senior in the Henry’s demanding International Baccalaureate small learning community, Sengsoulichanh (pronounced seng-SUE-lee-chah-n) holds a 3.7 GPA. He is also a member of the school’s robotics team and active in the Admission Possible college preparation program. His favorite subject is mathematics, because he “loves doing calculations.” His employment has included work at a restaurant and now an internship at the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

With help from family, friends and teachers, he puts school at the center of his life.
“I think school is important,” he said, “it allows for good experiences to help us later in life. There are obstacles, but I feel good about school because it helps to show what direction I want to go in life.”

Sengsoulichanh is, to say the least, a quiet kid. He was born and raised in a small home in North Minneapolis.

His parents were raised in Laos and moved to America in 1989 in search of a better life. Neither knew much English when they arrived in Minnesota. Sengsoulichanh’s mother took ESL classes for about a year, but was then forced to stop when she needed to focus on work to support the family. Sengsoulichanh’s father was a graduate of Hennepin Technical College and was set to become a machinist until he fell ill and was no longer able to work.

From kindergarten to sixth grade, every day was the same for Sengsoulichanh. He was to come home, eat and be given about an hour of leisure. Then it was two straight hours of homework. And if he finished his homework early, he was to read a book until the rest of the two hours was up. His parents worked to implant the idea of work into his mind and it has stuck with him for the most part.

For Sengsoulichanh, his goals are always in his mind when he goes to work, studies, or goes to school. At the first robotics team meeting, for example, he explained exactly the club’s goals and how it plans to attain them. His focus is clear in these moments.

But he acknowledges that he doesn’t do it all on his own. “My peers strive to work hard to get to college,” he said. “They really help to encourage me to do better.”

Most of his friends are in the International Baccalaureate program at Henry, and most are in Admission Possible and on the path to college. They are smart, diverse but not always buried in books. Many days one can find Sengsoulichanh and his friends at a nearby park, playing basketball, football, or table tennis.

“We’re a pretty diverse group. I like it,” Sengsoulichanh said. “We’re like the United Nations.”

One evening, it was 9 p.m. before he finally left school to walk to his car. He had been in the robotics room for five hours straight, getting work done and talking about plans for the program this year. Now he had to get home to finish up some homework.

“I encourage kids to see themselves in the future, think about your path,” he advised. “Everything is a process. Take it one step at a time and you’ll get somewhere.”