Since starting this class I'm starting to realize that there are many things I have taken for granted in my life. The most obvious being my college experience. I wouldn't say that I had it easy coming to college, meaning college wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. Before reading "Scholarship Girl" and Museus' article I never really thought about what it might be like for students coming from a more cultured backgroud to enter into a land of unkown culture. Granted college can be considered an unknown land for any new student, but possibly having to "give up" your culture in order to fit in is something I never really thought of before.
Personally I don't feel that anyone should have to deny who they are in order to be accepted into a particular setting or group. I found Tinto's theory to be quite interesting. The idea that one must detach themselves from their original culture and adopt the values and norms of the culture they are joining in order to succeed just doesn't seem right. Although sadly it seems that this is true for the most part. It seems that most of the articles we've read so far say that underrepresented students don't feel a part of their campus culture so they tend to not complete school or succeed as much as White students. It just makes me wonder how many more years it will be before this is no longer the norm? It seems that the change has begun because everyone talks about the millennial generation and how they are a much more engaging generation. It seems that children now are starting to be raised where they no longer see as much of a difference in race. I guess we'll see when our children get to college how prominent these issues still are.
Possibly more to come...
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