{"id":9852,"date":"2014-03-31T09:47:41","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T14:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=9852"},"modified":"2014-03-31T09:47:41","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T14:47:41","slug":"minority-student-success-meet-al-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2014\/03\/31\/minority-student-success-meet-al-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Minority student success: meet Al Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Minority is the term used to represent a relatively small percentage of the population. According to Dr. Bobby Beavers, the coordinator of Minority Student Success, \u201cAfrican Americans are considered a \u2018minority\u2019 because we represent a lower percentage than the majority population.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that students who are considered a minority may have a harder time in college.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many reasons for the barriers experienced by African Americans as they pursue a college education,\u201d he said in an email interview. \u201cCollege readiness is a factor that can impact success or failure. Students may not be ready for the academic rigor of college because of previous educational experiences. Students may not be ready for the financial impact. Many will have to work and go to school to continue to support their families. Students may not be ready for the overall college experience. Also, many African American students are first-generation college students \u2014 the first in their families to attend college. Individually or collectively, these factors can impact the expedient and successful completion of a college degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Washington, who is Liberal Arts major, started at Sinclair Community College in fall 2011 and has faced his fair share of challenges while earning his degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d be a college student, especially with the life that I was living; education never crossed my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cNow being a returning student, it was very difficult for me. When I first got on campus, I didn\u2019t even know what a syllabus was \u2014 that\u2019s how out-of-touch I was with school. I didn\u2019t know the correct way to write an essay or how to do a research paper, so I struggled. I remember staying up until two or three o\u2019clock in the morning with tears in my eyes ready to give up, but I realized that I came a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spent time \u201cripping and running the streets,\u201d but changed his life by becoming a Christian, surrounding himself with supportive people and \u201cbelieving in the holy spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began his time at Sinclair by pursuing a degree in mental health, but later realized that he wanted to change his major. However, he never gave up the idea of working with kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prayed about it, and a light bulb went off and said \u2018I want to be a teacher,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cGrowing up [and] dealing with different issues at a young age, I didn\u2019t have anyone who understood what I was going through \u2026 I know what these kids are going through, so who else could relate to these kids and let them know that regardless of their circumstances, there\u2019s always a way out. People miss the beauty of kids and how they develop. Life circumstances can put a hinder on how they develop; they have to grow up fast to have to learn how to survive, so if I can have a part in that to help them \u2014 I\u2019m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later started working at a daycare with school-aged boys. There, he helped them with their homework and said the children he worked with changed their attitude and improved their grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy me working with the boys, they had an attitude adjustment. Their grades improved by me working with them,\u201d he said. \u201cI made them believe in themselves. I always shared with them that we are a team, and I put it into terms that boys could understand \u2026 And I always shared with them \u2018I believe in you, but you\u2019re going to have to believe in yourself,\u2019 so I made them build confidence in themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is currently two classes away from completing his degree at Sinclair, and three years away from earning his bachelors and masters degrees at Wright State University. He also serves as the president of the African American Culture Club, and he works in the Psychology department. He advises students to never give up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never gave up on myself, and I worked hard and stayed dedicated to my craft so I could perfect myself day in and day out,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything is a humbling experience. I appreciate it, and I\u2019m blessed and humbled; I\u2019m no better than the next person.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minority is the term used to represent a relatively small percentage of the population. According to Dr. Bobby Beavers, the coordinator of Minority Student Success, \u201cAfrican Americans are considered a \u2018minority\u2019 because we represent a lower percentage than the majority population.\u201d He added that students who are considered a minority may have a harder time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-2yU","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9853,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9852\/revisions\/9853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}