edgy-cation

** sorry again for my late post :/

** so sorry for my late post!

One of the things that I really learned from my placement at an up and coming alternative high school in north Philadelphia was the idea of how access to education is something far deeper than just the question of the kinds of resources a student may or may not have. I worked one-on-one with a student for the majority of my time there and one of the assignments was to write a letter to a faculty member introducing yourself, describing aspects of your life, along with listing things such as goals and aspirations for the upcoming year.

Access to education can come from various places and have various angles, and for my sister, her angle was running. She was athletic for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until high school that she truly realized her potential as an athlete, and its implications in terms of applying to college. Now as the fall starts to roll around and my sister begins her college application process, I can help but reminisce and compare our experiences. So much of my access to education has been involved with my cerebral nature and channeling that into being the best student possible, whereas my sister is flourishing as a result of her talent as a star track athlete. In this instance, her access to education has nothing to do with education at all.

(Note: this is based on my own experiences in education, i.e. in American private Catholic then later public schools)

When you're old enough to leave your parent's side you go to preschool or daycare. You color, you play tag, you dress up, you play in the sand or with toys and action figures. No one expects you to pass a test or complete an assignment, you can just be.

A few years later is kindergarten. You have to learn to read, to write, to do math, maybe find your country on a world map or learn a little about dinosaurs. You have your first tests and quizzes and folder of homework assignments and there is more pressure to get work done. Then they introduce you to the formula.

(Excuse my scattered, short thoughts... I forgot about this and I'm at plenary and hungry)

I honestly think that my identity has a direct impact on my access to education. Whenever I think about my personal access to education and how my intersecting identities give me privilege. I had the privilege of growing up in a community where education was always put first. I lived in a household with college educated parents who were able to help me with my studies and educational inquiries as I progressed through school. I always like to consider issues as a matter of class, and race/other identities are mediators that show greater issues in our society. Although I experience many barriors with my access to education because of my racial identity, my class privilege allowed me to move fluidly in the American school system.

I am white. I am middle class. I live in the United States. I have parents who care about me and about my education. In short, I am privileged.

A facet of my identity that I want to talk about is my identity as a Black woman. Though this aspect of my identity may seem obviously apparent to others, it was a part of me that I did not recognize until recently. Growing up, I was always able to identify with my girlhood (and later, womanhood), but it was an identification that did not include race. Before my junior year of high school, if I was asked to list a couple important aspects of my identity, I would list my race and then gender (separating the race from the gender). But this was all before I began to explore what it meant to be a Black woman, and how my own identity functioned within this sector of womanhood.