Student story: Overcoming social obstacles to college
About this video
A student describes being the only kid from his block to make it to college, while others ended up in jail. As he succeeded in school he was seen as an outsider and felt pressure to prove himself, but he stayed focused on what he wanted to become and what he did not.
You'll be able to
- describe the social pressures this student faced in his neighbourhood.
- explain how focusing on future goals helped him.
- suggest ways to stay focused when friends choose different paths.
Key words
- Environment
- The surroundings and people you grow up with.
- Outsider
- Someone who is seen as not belonging to a group.
- Prove who they are
- Try to show others you belong or are tough, often by joining in.
Transcript
- I don't know, most every kid on the block I grew up, I still go there now, I'm the only one that made it to college. The rest are already either in jail or just got out. So overcoming my environment was... I don't even know how to explain it. It was just huge for me, because, you know, when you grow up in a neighborhood, and you have friends, and, you know...
then you start succeeding in school, and they don't, you don't really hang out with them as much, and then you notice that you're kind of looked at as an outsider, and some people might want to, you know, participate in some of the activities they're doing just because they feel like they have to prove who they are.
I saw what I wanted to do, I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew what I didn't want to become. So I just had to stay focused on the future rather than what's going on now.
Video © Khan Academy, used under CC BY-NC-SA. Watch on Khan Academy. Puzzicle is not affiliated with Khan Academy.