College Countdown
College Countdown
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Minority Issues
(Click here to go to these sections) Being
a "Class Act" no matter what
Being
a minority on a college campus is an issue whether it is due to ethnic
background, country of birth or gender. No one should ever tell you to turn your
back on your ethnic background and history. It is as much a part of you as
breathing. Your history is rich and wonderful and to be treasured. Take
advantage of minority cultural centers that are on campuses. These centers
sponsor social gatherings and events, educational and cultural events and
seminars. Participating in these events will help other cultures and races
better understand yours. The more understanding that occurs, the faster the
barriers between peoples will fall down. Always
keep in mind that reverse hatred and demeaning language is just as damaging than
to receive it. Take a stand against intolerance in any form. Don’t let anyone
tell you or make you feel you are inferior. Take
social science and history courses that address issues for your minority. These
will not only help you become more knowledgeable of your rich history and
culture, but through your participation, will also help spread the knowledge
throughout your college. Once
you have made a decision on your college major join the minority professional
organization. Many
states across the country are banning racial profiling by police departments. It
has been an unfortunate fact of life. Signing laws will not automatically solve
the problem or prevent the situations from occurring in the future, but it is a
start. Check and see if your college has a ban on racial profiling not only for
the campus police, but for the city or town in which your college is located.
The same situation follows with the fact that even though hate crimes have been
outlawed, hate crimes still occur. You
need to gather around yourself constructive people who will support you in your
journey. This includes your parents who may become your greatest cheerleaders.
Stay away from people who are destructive to you in attitudes, behaviors and/or
influence. As
a junior or senior, try to participate in a minority student prep program
offered by some colleges. Two of these are the Special Student Services and
Upward Bound programs. When
you visit the campus, spend some time at the student union or large residence
hall dining rooms. Ask minority students on campus what their experiences have
been like: Do they feel safe here? If they had to do it over, would they still
choose this college? Look over the room – is there an invisible line drawn
across the room? Or are students reasonably mixed as they sit enjoying
themselves? Make arrangements to talk to a minority professor and get her
impressions. It
is human nature to be afraid of the unknown, to be afraid of what is not exactly
like you are. If you are on a primarily white campus, you may be the target of
some of those fears. How you react to those fears will set the stage for your
success on that campus and the degree of success for those who follow you. By
reacting in a class act manner, this will help to eventually heal the ignorance
that is the basis for racial fear. There
is no magic formula for minority success. You will have to work very, very hard.
You will need to form a strong support structure around you of people who
believe in you. You need to demand of yourself the strongest choice of courses
you possibly manage. You need to demand of others the opportunity to be offered
strong curriculum in high school. Set your goals and expectations very high.
Figure out a plan to reach those goals. If
there were a magic formula for minority success, education would be the basic
ingredient. It is the key to preparing for a successful life. And we must expect
and demand rigorous academic standards accompanied by superior teaching.
For
Black high school students, you do have an additional option of college choice
– the Historically Black Institutions (HBI). The HBI’s offer the advantages
of a supportive community, a nondiscriminatory atmosphere free of racism both in
and out of the classroom, and to have greater access to and networking
opportunities of role models and alumni. One of thing to keep in mind is that
the HBI’s are they are usually smaller schools.
How you perceive yourself in the world will affect your college choice. The following are self-evaluation questions to add to those listed in the goal setting sections of this web site and Chapter 2 of College Countdown. ·
Do you go to a high school with a balanced racial mix or do you ·
How do you interact with your peers at high school? ·
Do you work only with other students of your minority, or do you work ·
How do you interact with students in your high school classes? ·
How do you interact with your teachers? ·
What are your coping skills like? ·
Can you blow off situations or do you worry and get angry about them for
extended periods of time? If
your honest self-evaluation results in mostly positive answers, then you have a
good chance of succeeding at college. If they are not, then there is additional
preparation for you to do. You
need to spend a lot of time analyzing yourself with the result of a
well-constructed set of goals and the plans to attain them, which need to
include ·
Skills and interests
Positive attitude
Strong work ethic
Some
of the tips and tricks that should be in your tool kit are: ·
As with high school, realize that not everyone is going to accept readily
accept you. ·
Find a minority role model and/or mentor on campus.
Become a friend. Be a good friend to all – that is one of they key ways
to be a decent human being regardless of skin color or ethnic origin. ·
Be a class act! This will get you through a lot of tough situations. ·
Hone your study and time management skills. ·
You have to do the work and do your personal best. ·
Be persistent. Be dedicated. ·
Take care of your health. Eat well. Take steps to minimize or defuse Your
personal success is additionally based on how you view yourself within the scope
of your culture and as an individual. How do you want to be remembered? When you
look back at your life and what do you want remember about yourself and what you
have accomplished? How
do you make constructive change and how do you gather the tools you’ll need to
take out into the world after college? ·
Be a class act. ·
Go to class all the time and be on time. ·
Participate in discussions – this is your ownership in the course. ·
Believe that you can do it. ·
Surround yourself with people who also believe you can do it. ·
Be a cheerleader to those who need it. ·
Be a good friend. ·
Find a strong support structure. ·
Join a cultural group on campus. ·
Study – no one is going to give you anything for free. ·
Get the best grades possible. ·
Get to know your professors. ·
Join a culturally based organization. ·
Learn from other minority students who handle situations well. ·
Learn from your experiences. ·
Get involved in extracurricular activities outside your cultural
connection. ·
If you are active in a religion, try and stay involved. ·
Work on making good life choices regarding
Relationships
Sex
Alcohol
Drugs
Ethical questions ·
Be yourself – but you have to know yourself first. ·
Learn to resolve conflicts constructively. ·
Actions have consequences – good or bad positive/negative. Of
yourself, expect the best. Of others, expect and demand the best. You deserve
it. Excellence is the best combatant to racism. Demand respect for yourself by
giving respect.
Being
a "Class Act" no matter what It
is human nature to be afraid of the unknown, to be afraid of what is not exactly
like you are. If you are on a primarily white campus, you may be the target of
some of those fears. How you react to those fears will set the stage for your
success on that campus and the degree of success for those who follow you. By
reacting in a class act manner, this will help to eventually heal the ignorance
that is the basis for racial fear. Time
Out Being
a class act doesn’t mean not reacting to a different or wrong situation. It
means reacting constructively and with respect. It means working toward positive
change for yourself and others. Keep
in mind that for every piece of misinformation based on the unknown, another
student may have about you, you may have an equal amount of misinformation about
him/her. College, more than any other time and place in your life, offers the
chance to learn diversity. Diversity of the course work you take, professors
you’ll meet and students of many colors and backgrounds. The more constructive
experiences and exposure the various races have to each other, the more
understanding will exist among the various groups. Tolerance needs to start as
soon as possible, beginning in the home and school. No
matter where you attend college, you will be confronted with racism. How you
react is vital to your success in college and in life. Very simplistically it
gets down to the question of How do
you personally deal with your own anger? With
your anger you have a choice to make. You can use your anger to destroy (which
will eventually destroy you and those around you). Or you can use your anger to
constructively change the environment that lead to the racism. Our
goal as a society, if we are to survive as a cohesive world in the 21st
Century, needs to a balanced outlook toward life and its peoples. No one group
is more perfect than another. All cultures have incredible people who have made
great contributions to their culture and the world as a whole. All cultures have
obnoxious individuals and groups who are destructive and evil.
The Internet A
Better Chance American
Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) American Indian College Fund American
Institute for Managing Diversity (AIMD) Anheiser-Busch
Urban Scholarship Association
of American Indian and Alaska Native Professors AVID
- Advancement Via Individual Determination BDPA
Education & Technology Foundation Black
Entertainment Network The
Black
Collegian Black
Excel: The College Help Network Black
Families Black
Issues in Higher Education Black
Planet Black
Voices The
Black World Today The
College Fund/UNCF Congressional
Hispanic Caucus Institute Department
of Education/Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs Diversity Resources Online Educational
Native American Network (ENAN) FinAid’s
site for minority financial aid Financial
Aid for Native American Students Gates
Millennium Scholars Graduate
Fellowship Notebook (Cornell U) Grants for Individual Minorities Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) Historically
Black Colleges and Universities Home Page Hispanic
Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Hispanic
Scholarship Fund The
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education Math Is Power Minority
Institution Information
National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) National
Black College Showcase Native
American Schools, Student Groups and Related Programs on the Internet National
Congress on American Indians National Hispanic Scholarship Fund NetNoir Quality
Education for Minorities (QEM) Special
Student Services Tribal
Colleges, Native Studies Programs, and Indian Education U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce United
Negro College Fund The
Universal Black Pages
MINORITIES
Are
there mentoring programs available?
Students?
Faculty? What
are the minority professional organizations on campus? What
is the minority percentage on campus? What
are the minority-oriented organizations on campus? What
are the crime statistics for the campus over the past few years? What
was the number of racial incidents on campus over the past few years? Do
you have a Minority Office? Do
you have an admissions rep who works with minority students? Does
your campus have a minority studies curriculum? Is
there specialized counseling available? On
your college visit:
Get a feel for the racial atmosphere on campus.
How welcomed do you feel?
Make arrangements to meet with the Minority Office.
Make arrangements to meet with a present minority student of the campus. Make arrangements to spend the night in the dorm.
© 2003 [Wildwood Country Press]. All rights reserved.
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