I was not prepared for
the rigor of academics.
A man once said,
it's better to be prepared for
an opportunity and not have
one, than to have
an opportunity and not to
be prepared. And, because I
didn't pursue the higher
level courses in high
school, I wasn't prepared
for college, and when I
got to college, I struggled.
Graduate from college, that was huge,
that was a big goal for me
because I was going to be the first.
I couldn't let people down.
I was taught that in high
school, setting up the
bar where you wanted it
to be, in the college it was the same thing.
When I graduated high school I
had no idea what I
wanted to do, but I
knew that I wanted to go to college.
I was struggling grade wise,
and I wasn't passionate, and
I was sitting and thinking, I'm not
passionate about what I'm doing right now.
Then when I switched to the
College of Education, I absolutely
love it, and I think it was the best decision I ever made.
I do feel the pressure sometimes,
because I'm the first to go to college.
Something my mum always tell me
about education, this is
an opportunity that they never
had, especially with the scholarships and grants.
People are really surprised when I
tell them, I'm first generation because
my dad owns several companies, my
mum has been able to be
a stay at home mum my entire
life, they just assumed
that my parents were college educated,
and I'm just following in their
footsteps. I don't think
they realized like all that
my parents went through to
get to that spot, they weren't
just given it.
There probably isn't
any stereotypes in this
day and age as far as
me being a black guy going
to college, but as far
as in education, I think
I'm reading a lot of stereotypes. I
mean, just looking at my physical
appearance you might think he
might be going into sports or
something like that. I'm just
a regular guy, and when I
come in here, they treat
me like a movie star and
it's awesome, I love it.
When my brothers and sisters moved here,
they were new comers, they knew
no English. So when
I have my ESL students, and they tell
me I have been here for a week,
I have been here for a day.
It's like seeing my brothers
and sisters walk into the classroom.
And so, ESL to me
fetches my heart, because
I know exactly where they are
coming from. I know the struggles.
That's the beauty of this country, that
it doesn't matter where
you come from, or you look like,
how you talk, how you
dress. If you want
to become something and you want to be something, you can.
You know, there is nobody holding you back but yourself.
