When we talk about education (especially post-secondary education), we tend to focus on acquisition and development of vocational skills; for instance, when I tell people I hold a literature degree, the consensus follow-up is, “What are you going to do with that, teach?” While it is important to think of an education as preparing the student for a career track, some of the most essential benefits of completing a college degree become peripheral to simply getting a job.
I am spending my AmeriCorps*VISTA year recruiting for the Scholarship for Parents at Boston University’s Metropolitan College; the Scholarship is a 50% tuition discount for parents of Boston & Chelsea Public School students to complete a Bachelor’s degree. I will be spending much of my time this year, as I am today, at community events meeting parents and community outreach coordinators to discuss the opportunity and eventually enroll non-traditional students at BU.
The reason this Scholarship exists, besides of course developing job skills and opening career opportunities to first-generation college students, is one of those peripheral benefits of higher education: connecting the campus community to the residential community. Unfortunately, college campuses can sometimes become insulated from the neighborhoods that surround them. Traditional college students often transplant or commute, and they naturally spend much of their time with only other students. When students graduate, they move away, and a new batch of students moves in. Likewise, in lower-income neighborhoods, nativity is very high, and residents do not always have opportunities to interact with people from very different backgrounds. The distance between the college campus and the permanent residential community, while only a few blocks, can seem like miles.
By reaching out into Boston and Chelsea neighborhoods like Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park (for example) and pulling them into the campus experience, we catalyze an otherwise unlikely but immeasurably enriching relationship. Our Parent Scholars go to class and study with an incredibly diverse community contained on the BU campus. Conversely, out-of-state students learn about the challenges facing Boston residents and people who attend school while working full-time. Experience breeds confidence and understanding, and the product of the BU Experience is not only academic achievement but also civic engagement and community-building.
This year, I will be experiencing this first hand, as I will of course be voraciously engaging community members, but also taking classes at the Metropolitan College. I am very fortunate to be living this experience as I advocate for it, and look forward to its many lessons both in and out of the classroom.
Like Jeff, I will also be documenting my projects, successes and challenges, and thoughts of general interest here periodically. Also feel free to contact me at avillere@bu.edu.
One love!
Aaron Villere
MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA
Boston University Metropolitan College
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