Wednesday October 30, 2019
Serving the Rio Hondo Community
Volume 59 Issue 6
Breaking the stigmas of higher education. MEGAN DE LARA A&E Editor
megan.delara9233@my.riohondo.edu
Dream big when you’re young, fight battles and conquer obstacles to fulfill your ambitions. It’s the motivational speech all of us hear at some point during our academic careers. Hard work pays off, and when you’re in your teens or early twenties, almost anything seems possible. Things aren’t always that black and white, though. The opportunity to attend college is not always universal, and even if the chance is available, sometimes certain priorities take place of earning a degree. There are bills to pay, rent payments to be made, kids to feed, having to feed yourself (because let’s be honest, financial aid doesn’t offer the same benefits to everyone – but that’s a different argument itself), and the list goes on. Sometimes life gets the upper hand and academic goals are pushed to the sidelines, or just forgotten entirely. But what if that little fire for learning never went out completely. If at any time the desire to improve one’s self reignites, the same amount
ILLUSTRATION BY ESTEVAN MACIAS / EPM of positive energy invested in young individuals should be invested in mature individuals as well. Support should come from every outlet, every corner, and should never be questioned regardless of age. While I was at UCLA (long ago during my first academic journey), I remember taking classes with an older woman. We transferred into the English program the same year and took American Poetry together. I never formerly met her, and I don’t remember her name, but she obviously made a lasting impression. I was, of course, much younger than her, but she was much bolder
than I ever was. The woman asked questions, took reading assignments seriously, and came to class every day. Regardless of this, I always wondered what made her want to pursue a degree so late in life. “What can you do with a degree like that now?” How ignorant of me to ask such silly questions, though, because I now realize academic success is obtainable at any age. College is difficult, I’m sure any student would most likely agree. Now imagine taking on all of the challenges that come with being a college student and also having to fight the stigma that education is for the young.
And yes, there’s a stigma. It’s not widely discussed, but it exists, and it makes the journey more difficult and less enjoyable. “College is not made for the older person,” Elizabeth Prell, 55, a current student at Rio Hondo said. “I think it’s harder. They don’t gear colleges for the older person; I think they try to push them out.” Prell takes classes in the evening and says she’s received negative reactions from both fellow students and professors. It doesn’t come in the form of direct comments, but rather indirect rude actions or unpleasant looks. During an English class,
the professor asked students to participate in answering a question. Though he listened intently to others, when it came time for Prell to answer, he turned around mid-answer to write on the whiteboard. “He told me [as he was writing], ‘Oh, Elizabeth, I’m not ignoring you, I just have to do this right now.’ [But] he didn’t to do that to anybody else,” she said. “Only me.” Everyone has the right to dream. Academic success is possible past thirty, forty, even fifty. If an individual has the drive to start fresh later than the average student, they should be celebrated, not scoffed at or dismissed. The appetite to gain knowledge should always be fed, and professors should be opened to mentoring those who seek mentorship, even if their students aren’t twenty-something anymore. Walking into a classroom full of peers decades younger than you is a challenge all in itself. Those who choose to do it regardless of possible backlash are, no doubt, extremely brave. Dreams don’t have an expiration date. Dreams are for everyone and success should be celebrated at every age.