In "The Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas, Marta's feelings change over the course of the story. In the beginning she feels anxious to get the jacket. In the middle she feels shocked and hurt. In the end she feels victorious and joyful. In the beginning, she feels anxious to get the jacket and prove all of her hard work paid off. In the text it says, "The small Texas school that I went to had a tradition carried out every year during the eighth-grade graduation: a beautiful gold and green jacket (the school colors) was awarded to the class valedictorian, the student who had maintained the highest grades for eight years." This means that the scholarship jacket is a big deal to her because that means all of her hard work paid off.