She was a diligent, obedient student, becoming valedictorian at her Catholic elementary school, St. Lawrence, and excelling at her Catholic high school, St. Joseph. “She dedicated everything to school—she did not get in trouble, I don’t even think she dated,” recalled LeBlanc. “She just was determined to succeed, and she was going to go out and get it. And she did.” Ramirez worked summers serving ice cream at Carvel, driving there in the used car she’d bought with $500 of her babysitting earnings. Unable to afford full freight at Yale (nearly $13,000 at the time for tuition, room, and board; $72,100 in 2019), her parents had to take out loans. To chip in, Ramirez, who studied sociology and psychology, also obtained student loans and had work-study jobs on campus, including serving food in the dining halls and cleaning dorm rooms before class reunions.
She was a cheerleader her freshman year, sometimes positioned at the pinnacle of the pyramid, but learned quickly that although cheerleading was cool in high school, it didn’t carry the same cachet in college.
For Ramirez, Yale was full of painful ironies like that. People would call her Debbie Cheerleader or Debbie Dining Hall or start to say “Debbie does . . .” as a play on the 1978 porn movie Debbie Does Dallas. But Ramirez, who had limited sexual experience and knowledge, didn’t understand the reference.
No comments:
Post a Comment