Same Journey…Different Endings

I was riding the Red Line on my way to school today at around 8 o’clock. A standing passenger who wanted to talk to me drew my attention. He was a twenty something man with curly hair and brown eyes.

I responded to him with hi.

“Do you know me?” he asked

“I guess I do” came my answer. I didn’t quite remember him then; however, I ran through my mind to get clues of who he was and where I met him.

 As we interacted, he reminded me that we took a class together a while ago. Of course that was my first class at the college during my freshman year.

Fekadu has failed the class and has since dropped out of school.

He asked about me and what I did after that class and I explained to him that I kept moving on despite the challenging workload and that today was my graduation.

He was intrigued how fast time has passed that I was now finishing college. We both smiled.

Nonetheless, I explained to him that failing a class should not be an end in itself. Rather, it should be an opportunity to reevaluate oneself and to decide on what changes should be undertaken. That he can always access free tutoring services on campus. Additionally, what’s more important is that he can sign up for other classes, which he can certainly perform exceptionally better and that would encourage him to move on.

 Looking back, Fekadu and I embarked on the same journey, the same time but we arrived at different destinations. Neither of us had an easy ride. We both were immigrant youth navigating through a culture and society was new to us. We both were limited English language skills.

I firmly believe that Fekadu had burning ambitions. It’s those ambitions which brought him to school to enroll for a math class and to pay for it out of his pocket. Yet again, he needed support and as it appears he did not receive immediate help either because he didn’t know where to find it or he was simply distracted by other more challenging aspects of life.

In the end, everyone deserves an opportunity to earn an education that works. Challenges on the way to accessing quality education are many and are more pressing on those on the periphery of society whether these are the poor, the new immigrants, the disabled, minority groups, women among others. It would be good idea if institutions targeted those groups of society that need the real support without taking away much from those who have the drive  and the capacity to achieve their dreams.