Graduation Speech : College Is A Significant Part Of My Life That Influenced My Development Essay

Racial identity is one of the biggest themes that John Singleton explored in the film “Higher Learning” Most of the characters were in search for tangible answers to this exact question.Character like Ice cube couldn’t graduate from Columbus University because he couldn’t find an answer that could totally satisfy him. Omar Epps who play the character known as Malik dealt with his internal struggles of being a Black man in college. From the way he saw himself, how he perceived others viewed him, and how he saw the system work against him. Malik struggled internally with doing the right thing

In 1971, William E. Cross, Jr., Ph.D., a Black psychologist and prominent researcher (specializing in Black psychology) developed a framework for assessing how black Americans come to understand what it means to be Black. Dr. Cross introduced his ideologies as the “Nigrescence Model of Racial Identity Development“. He asserts that every black American must undergo a series of identity stages to develop a healthy and balanced understanding of the Black experience and become well-rounded in our global society. This model encompasses five stages of identity development, which Dr. Cross emphasizes, must be performed in order to successfully accomplish this goal.

The first main point the authors’ introduce is to recognize black males’ lived experiences. Black males have an experience unique to just them. Black men’s experiences of racism impact their education. They even face consequences for pursuing education. Those consequences could be social, educational, and economic. To understand these key issues, you must first look at the past. Black men have always had to overcome great obstacles. Low literacy, limited employment, high incarceration rates, have predisposed many black men to never being able to escape poverty. Further, being impoverished means a less chance that these men will go into higher education. Higher education is so expensive these days, and the underfunding of financial aid and other

On the very first day of the class, Introduction to the Black Experience, we learned that people are defined by their culture and geography. We are also defined by the gaze of others and our own gaze. This realization led me to contemplate what the “black experience” means to me. As a first generation Haitian-American woman at Wellesley College, it has become clearer to me how important the language and culture of parents has been in shaping my identity. I have also begun to think more critically about how my identity as a woman of color separates me from black brothers as well as my white peers at Wellesley.

Another major predicament that plays a large role in the amount of African Americans that do not receive a higher education is once they get to college, they do not have a typical or enjoyable experience once there. In today’s society, it is hard to imagine that there is still racism and segregation in schools and colleges today but the reality is, it still does very much exist. This is especially true when black students attend predominantly white universities. Even though most colleges promote themselves by talking about how diverse their

One of Beverly Tatum’s most popular works, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, outlines racial identity development and shows us what it means to be Black in today’s society. Tatum uses reasonable examples of her experience both as a parent and as a college professor. She is able to get readers to think in ways that might not be comfortable but are necessary and compelling. Recognizing understanding and embracing

Meet Rachel, a sophomore studying at Howard University who is also mixed with both black and white. Rachel transferred to the Historically Black University from a Predominantly White Institution because she felt as though she was not “white enough” and Howard would better suit her. Unfortunately upon her arrival, Rachel could not help but feel as though she was not “black enough” to attend Howard University. Rachel’s feeling of not belonging are not isolated, they are shared by millions of biracial Americans who, at one time or another, felt as though they did not belong to either culture. These feelings have been brought on, over time, by the way, America, although believed to be a “melting pot” of cultures, often wants people to categorize themselves as one ethnicity and the pressure placed on Americans to solely identify with one race divides the country more than anything else. The only way to rectify this problem is for Americans to stop separating themselves into racial categories and come together to be classified as simply American.

Prideful Black identity socialization, per Allen (2015), is an essential element of success and resilience. Researchers have created, recreated, and scrutinized many Black identity models, but William Cross’ (1971, 2001) theory is regarded as the most accurate and beneficial (Constantine, 1998). Cross created a Black identity development model that observes three patterns (Cross et al., 2001). First, Nigrescence pattern A is the process by which individuals have formative Black socialization experiences throughout their lives. Next, Nigrescence pattern B is the process by which individuals who were not socialized toward Blackness, or those who do not have a healthy Black identity

There are several Black male initiatives on college campuses around the United States that focus on supporting the high school to college matriculation and retention of African American males. Furthermore, these initiatives are designed to support Black males as they navigate through their perspectives institutions (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Support can come in many ways. For the purpose of this section, I will highlight some of the programs that focus on the success of African American males; Penn GSE Grad Prep Academy, Sam Houston State University, The Ohio State, and UCLA.

UCAN is a program that weekly, visits local high schools providing them college mentorships. As part of college mentorship, we aid students, in college applications, financial aid, college essays and college preparation. The program is efficiently split into three parts, so mentees and mentors can take most from it. The three parts consist mainly of helping seniors in the college application process, teaching and mentoring sophomores and juniors about college preparation, preparing for next year. I first joined the UCAN program in Fall 2016, an aspect that really captivated my attention was that we could aid high schools, this really interested me because this was an opportunity that I did not count with in high school. I wanted provided the aid and support that could not receive when I was growing up.

Success comes easier to a student’s if they are in their comfort zone. students who feel at ease with their environment, have a higher tendency to achieve success in college, for example studies have shown that African American students that attend predominantly white universities are more likely to either have lower grade point averages or drop out at higher rates than their white counterparts and African Americans at historically black colleges. (Allen, Epps & Hanuf, 1991; Braddock & Dawkins 1981) This is a common example of how change could affect a student’s ambition unconsciously. Studies have shown that students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities are more likely to have higher self worth, positive self images, strong racial pride, and higher aspirations, opposite of black students on white campuses. This is true for almost all commonalities: race, gender, age, and even backgrounds. Students that feel more “at home” will more than likely receive higher grade point averages.

College is a great opportunity that I am blessed to be going through today. I see it as an opportunity to grow as a person and set myself up for the future I want. The success I have in the future will be greatly affected by how I do in college.

The next morning I called home. That fall I would start school at a Historically Black University, as systematically different as I could get from my southern Missouri predominantly white university. I flourished, I was involved in numerous organizations, inducted into a national Greek lettered organization and soon after, elected President of my chapter. I developed essential study habits and found my sense of belonging. If you were to ask me what color my crayon was then; it would be the alluring brown or the rich black crayon in the box. My crayon was as brown as the dirt in mother Africa, and as black as the chains the “white man” used to put me into slavery. Yet, I still had not found my true identity I had merely assimilated to the culture around me. It would not be until I stepped into the working world that my true colors would show.

What has my journey to graduation been like for me? My journey has been a crazy, fun-filled learning adventure. I met many goals and accomplishments I set for myself but I also faced some challenges on the way. For example, I finally met my goal of graduating with a 4.6 GPA and maintaining it. Also, I accomplished completing my last four years of grade school and now I am on the way to college. My last year has been interesting and there are many goals, accomplishments and challenges I can reflect on.

Many times, this is a process that starts even before graduation day. In the beginning, it may seem to be a request for a “Senior Gift,” or a gathering to inform each senior about the importance of alumni giving to the school. Anyway that it is introduced, the immediate objective is to quickly get college graduates into the habit of giving back to the school. The ultimate goal of alumni giving is to ratify that generosity for eternity. Alumni donations are an important source of revenue and a very good measurement of how alumni view their colleges.