& this is what makes me mad.......

Okay, so I am on the phone with a person. Smart high school student...high GPA, right? Went to the school counselor to ask some advice about his/her :) future....and tell me why the school counselor advised him/her to GO to a community college (not even mentioning other options)?.....k, before I go further, I'd like to say that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with community college, at all. In fact, I wholly value the education and the choice of going there. HOWEVER, here is where my problem comes from:

1) The field in which that person wants to go into is not fully available in that community college...just like with any types of colleges (2-year, 4-year, university), if the college does not have a solid program, why spend money going there?

2) The reason she told him/her to go into that field was not because the COUNSELOR herself VALUES the community college education, but because [and she blatantly said this]
                  a) the classes are easy and it's convenient....but excuse me? Who says s(he) was looking to go to a college to take EASY classes, first of all (and mind you, she's making the feeble assumption that community college courses are all easy! wow.)?
                 b) what about all the other schools in that area that DO have a good program in the field?....and would you believe she told him/her that the school s(he) was considering was TOO ADVANCED for him/her.....!??!?!!?!?!? These assumptions and stereotypes offend me...

see, this is what makes me mad.......(lol now you know what makes me mad!!:))


Institutionalized-prejudice (my own term based on Carmichael's concepts) that is still present but are happening on the down-low.

Funny thing is, one of my sisters had a similar experience...Smart and producing the grades...yet when she went to her counselor, she was also told to consider going to a community school (didn't even provide other options) and even went on to encourage her minority friends to get a job after graduation (what happened to high expectations?? what? minority children can't succeed in college? are not capable of applying to "prestigious" schools that you are advising the other students to apply to?). When my sister told me that, I was THIS close to going to the school and having a talk with that counselor as well as the principal. NO joke. Too bad time would not permit.....bummer. :)

Anyways, LOW expectations and stereotyping are what are affecting our minority children today. Of course, there is definitely much more to this, but I think I can safely say from these anecdotes that school counselor positions are undermined and rarely investigated. I think it's extremely important that all school counselors be evaluated and assessed before being placed in a diverse environment. Lack of understanding and knowledge and pre-conceived beliefs are factors preventing some counselors from doing their job and doing it effectively.
That being said, schools should have more than one counselor and/or at least ONE to represent the minority groups in that school.

That is why I sincerely WISH that students would take serious responsibility of their own education and that parents would play greater roles in supporting and maintaining high expectations for their children and their successes. I  know that there are many students out there who are not that naive and can see beyond these words, but still the fact that it's happening under the DL frustrates me because I know that there are many others who are victims.

I strongly dislike it....................but I should add that I do acknowledge that not all counselors from the majority group are like that. My counselor was awesome!! I liked her...she was a very supportive, helpful and encouraging counselor!!...[besides, I don't think she would've gotten away with it even if she fell under the other category though, ha ha :)]

On a HAPPIER AND POSITIVE NOTE:  Mid-term week is over and I think  am sure I did well. YAY. God is awesome!!! :)