Like
most of us, going to college often means being separated from your high school
friends that you’ve known most of your life. Many of us go to separate schools,
often times in a whole different state than many of our friends. I am one of two people out of my core high
school friend group that not only decided to go out of state for college, but
also to attend a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) while many went to HBCUs
(Historically Black University or College). With this decision came a lot of
resentment from my friends. This has constantly been riddled with resentment
from many of my peers. This stems from this conception among my friends that
because I decided to attend a PWI, that I deem myself better than them and my
education more rigorous and meaningful to society than them. Not looking past,
the fact that what strongly geared my decision to attend a PWI was due to
financial aid, which I did not receive much of at the HBCUs that I applied to,
and the fact that I grew up in a majority black space all my life. I knew that
the world was more than the Black people that I grew up with, and I needed to
find a new environment, not that I think I am too good to go to an HBCU or the
fact that I deem my education better than theirs. This conception that many
people have obtained clouds the realities and creates this air of
misunderstanding. As a result, there are constant passive-aggressive or just
plain aggressive comments that are intertwined in my conversations with my
friends back home. For example, no matter what things that I may complain about
Rhodes to them the answer is always the same. The constant reply of “that’s
what you get for going to a white school” never fails to fill the air in the
room. It’s always interesting to see the
dynamics amongst myself and my friends and how my interactions with them are
now centered on the fact that I attend a PWI, instead of an HBCU like many of
them. At Rhodes, being a minority among most of your peers can be pretty challenging,
just like with most PWIs. Having the lack of comfort that I would have if I would’ve
went to an HBCU, and this is why many of my friends decided to go to their
colleges. However; for me it wasn’t about comfort, it was about the environment
that I will continue to experience after college. I’m interesting in how some of
who grew up around a majority Black environment and how this affects your
interactions with your high school friends.
WC:486
I always wondered what it would've been like if I had grown up being a part of the majority in school. I was always the one Black kid, or one of the two or three, in school. All throughout high school I was the only Black girl, granted our class was tiny (graduating class of 34). It never really bothered me, until we were discussing racism or slavery. When I came to Rhodes I was no longer the only Black person, I felt that, compared to what my life had been like in high school, that Rhodes was pretty diverse. I now realize that while each year the number of minority students increases, that does not mean that Rhodes has done a good job of fostering an inclusive environment. There have been several incidents over the years I have been here that could have been handled better. I believe that we are going in a better direction now. I believe that the swift action that President Haas took when a student wrote a very hurtful and vitriolic article a few weeks ago is evidence of it.
ReplyDelete