College Bound?

One of my handful of memories from middle school and early years in the U.S. comes from seventh or eighth grade. It's hard to remember which year because we shared the same classrooms and teachers during those two years. In any case, we had a guest speaker, a relatively young (and white) one, and that's about all I remember about why he was there to speak to us. My strongest memory about this speaker, though, was a question he had asked: "Raise your hand if you plan on going to college?" I remember thinking, "Well, d'uh, we're all going to college. That's the goal of going to school. What a dumb question."

Reflection upon this particular moment reveals a few things:

1. Until that moment, I didn't consider that I would have a choice in the matter. In my household, that was the expectation.
2. A relatively new immigrant to the U.S., I was an innocent. I wasn't aware of the hostile racial history of the United States and the bitter legacy that resulted. It never occurred to me, that this stranger, looking at a majority of brown faces, even in a Catholic school, would have reason, based on statistics and stereotypes, to question our desire to reach college.
3. I did not conceive that all my peers may not have had a positive outlook towards school and would therefore not want to pursue higher education. The structure of schools fit my learning style. What about those who did not benefit from the structure of that system and were, therefore, unsuccessful in that arena? Back then, differentiation was not the norm (especially at a Catholic school). Students either conformed or be labeled "dumb." So can you imagine what it might have been like for those who were non-traditional learners? I sure didn't.
4. I had incorrectly assumed that going to college was a rite of passage for all living in America. I was not yet cognizant that circumstances beyond one's control or one's environment could get in the way of one's ability to enroll in and graduate from college. (I would learn that painful lesson personally).  

All of my classmates raised their hands, but now I wonder how many of them actually wanted and believed that they would go to college, or how many simply succumbed to the pressure of that classroom environment or the expectation that college was the only goal and option?

In any case, though I knew the goal was to graduate high school and enroll in college, I can't say that I had any guidance from school counselors or others about the process. So when senior year came around, I was pulling my hair out. Thankfully, with the support of two of my teachers, I got through that experience. However, more than a decade after I had gone through the harrowing college application process, I saw my own students mirroring my own experience. The only difference was that many of them ended up with some bad deals.

It's one thing to be accepted into and to enroll into college, and it's completely something else to graduate. Too many of my students, unfortunately, uninformed and crunched for time during their senior year, ended up making college choices that cost them time, created unnecessary debt, and caused heartache. Those who had never seen themselves as college candidates didn't even apply--or worse yet, couldn't apply because they didn't have the grades (or even worse yet, the skills) to go straight into a four-year institution. "Don't lose hope," I used to tell my discouraged seniors. "That's the beauty of education in America: there's a school available to meet your needs. So what if you have to start at a community college? At least you'll be saving money while you figure everything else out."

Despite attempts at positivity, I have to say it was frustrating to see so many capable and eligible students settle for schools that were not the best fits--all because they had not received enough guidance by counselors over their high school years to make informed decisions. It is for this reason that I was quite happy that a college and career research was a requirement of the "graduation" portfolio of my eighth grade students. To my surprise, many students and some (affluent) parents were not happy with that requirement, as they considered it to require too much work on the part of their eighth grade child. They argued that eighth graders were not in a developmental frame to identify colleges and careers to pursue. They were still growing and would likely change their minds about their choices in high school.

While some of these claims were (and are) valid, the point was not to have students develop a blueprint for them to follow as is. Rather, the point was to have students develop understanding that getting accepted into a college of their choice did not happen by chance. It required knowledge and planning. The earlier their exposure to what it takes to get accepted into the colleges of their choice, or the earlier they explored what it required to pursue a particular career, the more mindful and goal-oriented they might be in going into high school. The more purposeful they might be about the courses they sign up for. At least that was (and is) the intent of this portfolio component.

But some of these affluent parents didn't quite yet "get" that. Like the younger me, they took for granted that not all their child's peers have the resources or inclination to pursue college or a career. That some have not been marinated in an environment filled with examples of college educated and successful individuals. For some of our students, this college and career research requirement is the only one they'll likely experience before their senior year of high school. By then, it will likely be too late for them.

This isn't to say that the college and career research requirement in place at my current school is likely to result in more of our students applying to, enrolling in, and graduating from college. I wish it were that simple, but the fact of the matter is, for a student to even apply to a college, s/he must identify him/herself as a college-goer. It is in developing that identity will those from disadvantaged groups or circumstances desire access into higher education.

The need for our schools and society to create a developmental approach to college access and success is what Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne M. Bouffard argue for in Ready, Willing, and Able (2014), my next book review.