A Cumulative Process: A Reflective View of a Higher Education Journey (Part II: then) (Essay‪)‬

Born in 1882, just seventeen years after the Civil War, and growing up during the early 1900s, my grandmother realized the special significance of an education for African Americans and for women. Therefore, while I have been in the classroom for over twenty years and chair of a department for less than two years, my journey into higher education began some time ago. My grandmother died when I was fourteen, but the values that she instilled still live. Whenever I would come home from school, her first question would invariably be, "What did you make today?" I would tell her of some test or class assignment. She would appropriately use the word "make" rather than "do" as a way of asking about all of my school experiences for that day. In her own way, she understood education to be a cumulative process, and each day at school was just one step closer to achievements that she hoped I would eventually make. Early on, the importance of an education was stressed in my family. My parents, who were not fortunate enough to attend college, made sure the opportunity was available to their seven children, six of whom are females. Therefore, when I graduated from high school, I did not wonder whether I would attend college or not; it was more a question of where. Never having to look beyond my brother or an older sister for a role model, I initially went where they had gone--Albany, Georgia. I can remember one summer at then Albany State College when I did not have housing for the first week. Since I could not drive a standard shift truck, my mother drove from Hawkinsville to Albany, three hours roundtrip, and waited while I attended classes. I owe much to my family. Perhaps it is that early commitment to education that I saw in the faces of my grandmother, parents, and siblings that eventually led me to the classroom as an educator, even though I was not sure that it was somewhere I wanted to go. I was also not sure it was somewhere others wanted me.