Yesterday, I read an education article in the New York Times that was published December 22, 2012 about three Hispanic young women and best friends from Galveston, Texas who have been struggling in college due to lack of financial means (even though they had prep thought Upward Bound). It's been circulating very fast. But I of course can't let the harsh truths of this article go by without putting my two cents in. I mean this blog is about being a minority in college, right?! I know all about that. lol First of all, reading that article frightened me a little. I did not realize that college has been widening the gap of the rich and poor.
Here's the link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewanted=all
Second, I absolutely positively cannot stand is the sensationalism writers feel they need to add and therefore perpetuate a bad situation by adding terribly corny, sarcastic (not funny) humor. One sentence talked about how one of the girls came home with As, Bs, Cs, and Ds on her report card "looking like alphabet soup." Really? Is that anything to joke about?
Third, this is somewhat scary because my line of work outside of college! ScholarCHIPS is all about breaking the cycle of poverty in low-income, at risk youth by encouraging and funding them to go to college and finish. As a person who's life is dedicated to this cause, I am not happy to hear that college is only securing the rich's position in society and putting the poor further behind.
Fourth, what makes me even more upset is that many people who left comments on the article directly and on other sites blame the girls, Angelica, mainly for not reaching out to the financial aid office, etc. As a college student myself, I am constantly checking in with the Bursar's office and the Financial Planning office to ensure that all is well with my scholarships/tuition, but they also ALWAYS send me an updated agreement letter anytime a new scholarship comes in for me. (In addition to make sure I get the financial assistance I need, every year my grandmother sits up December 31st and submits my updated FAFSA form on JAN. 1ST)
Anytime something changes, or something looks strange they email me...but I'm sure if they don't know your face or have a relationship with you at a large college, they probably aren't likely to make the extra effort to email you...but to assume her household income had increased so drastically without asking any questions to verify is just flat out wrong! But the article also makes a point I agree with and can relate to...that often low-income students, especially with parents who don't understand anything about college and financial aid don't feel as though the office will respond to them. This is the terrible mistake Angelica made.
Lastly, another point I can relate to from the article was that the young women were heavily relying on their boyfriends to help support them because their fathers weren't there. I can relate to this because I have a boyfriend (who is from Jamaica and only recently received his permanent residency) and my father is not in my life and is by no means equipped to financially support me in school. I am so blessed that I am at school on all scholarships and I have additional monies, so I do not have to rely my boyfriend or anyone heavily for financial support...But in my personal life in college, I would never ask my boyfriend to co-sign on a $40,000 loan, or any lon...especially since we are not 100% sure that going to get married right out of college and this is the huge mistake another young lady in the article made, but what I DO UNDERSTAND like most don't is that these young women 1) went to an underperforming high-school (though they were at the top of their class, 2) they are FIRST generation college students so you can imagine the level of support their families were able to give, 3) they are middle class making barely over $30,000 and 4) they did not have fathers to tell them not to make these kinds of decisions with men in college so early. So while people are scolding over comments, what may seem to come as common sense to you all, is unheard of to these young girls walking into unknown territory.
Latinos are very family oriented and many get married early, so no one can look down on these girls for these decisions...but in the United States in order to make it out of the slums and the living on paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't do the same things your parents did. Pursuing the American Dream as a low/middle class minority often includes sacrificing marriage and children for a later age and working twice as hard to both acquire scholarships and work to pay for tuition, books, food, and other essentials.
My advice to minorities going to college....Please please do not let this article discourage you. Do not be afraid to pursue what seems as the unreachable and obtain the unthinkable...BUT BE SMART. Create bridges and build relationships. I have strong relationships to people in the Admissions department, the Bursar's office, the Registrar's office and the Financial planning office. When you do not have money and parents to vouch for you...YOU MUST CREATE RELATIONSHIPS. No exceptions! It's the reality. You need people to watch out for you and have your best interest at heart...when that happens, professors will write you strong recommendations, suggest scholarships, introduce you to people, etc.
I hope you appreciate this coming from my perspective as I can totally relate to these girls. If you desire anymore advice on making it through college as a minority student, please do not hesitate to reach out to me...you can comment below (if it doesn't allow you, comment anonymously and put your email/number) or contact me at yasminearrington@yahoo.com. Remember...THE TASSLE IS WORTH THE HASSEL!
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