An interesting question was recently posted on Quora, in partnership with Newsweek. The question was, "Why should people of color go to college?"
The answer came from Vielka Hoy, the founder and director of Vielka Hoy Consulting. According to Newsweek, there are multiple reasons why students of color should go to a university or college. But Hoy says, most of those reasons have to do with getting a job.
But Vielka first emphasizes that it is important to "recognize that in many circles, we (as people who identify as people of color) don't think students of color should go to college." It is also important to recognize that there is a need to support the family and earn a degree to create a direct path to a job such as via a vocational or technical course as soon as possible.
Hoy goes on to say that college is being seen as a place for those people who did things that are completely unfamiliar and "have the money to waste time."
She agrees that college is expensive and students need to get an advanced degree to get a high paying job. So why should students of color go to college? Here are a couple of reasons:
1. People see the value of the education. She tells of a student of color and her story speaks about how everyone else asks her if she went to college. Her family never asks. Another student keeps on missing class at UC Berkeley. Her reason was because she needed to attend a demonstration during class time. Hoy reminds her that once the once the demonstrations are over, someone has to go to the courtrooms, classrooms and city halls. And that wouldn't be her without her degree.
2. Incomes are often based on the college education attained. It has to start from normalizing college at an early age. Her son has been with her through every college she visits and his toys are even from Stanford and other universities. Start at a young age and the influence will have an impact. The value of college knowledge is important.
