After reading about how certain writing technologies were monopolized by the rich (Baron), how the people/systems who teach literacy heavily impact their students (Brandt), and that literacy itself is often mistaken as a sacred good (Scribner), I have decided to demystify one of my sponsors of literacy: The Community College.
I am a proud graduate of Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) with an Associate of Arts degree and I know that some people think less of me for it. I had a younger friend who was originally going to follow in my footsteps, but his family decided it was better for them to downsize their house to afford sending him to a university right from the start. Let me repeat that in clear language: they thought it was better to uproot their family by selling the house they had for at least 10 years which their children grew up in, rather than sending their son to a community college.
For the record, MVCC is an amazing school. You get as much out of it as you put in to it. I was part of the Honors Program, the Vice President of Service for Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and even at the college bookstore as a student employee. MVCC was like my home away from home. I spent hours reading graphic novels and regular novels. I used their computers, databases, and knowledgeable librarians to create projects that I am proud of. I plan on even using some of those projects later, because of how much thought I put into them.
I know that not all community colleges are like MVCC, but I doubt all universities are high-caliber or reliable either. However, just because I went to a community college does not mean that I am less educated or somehow worse off than others. In fact, I think I prefer MVCC over DePaul University.
There are certain things, like how MVCC was only a 5 minute drive from my house or that we used a semester system, that I cannot hold against DePaul. However, there were certain things that made MVCC better. Yes, there were the stereotypical dropout students who were either not built to learn in our educational system or simply didn’t care. However, there were also people working 2-3 jobs or raising kids or both while going to school. I befriended people from all walks of life or who had even walked further in life. They were not adult students, because we were all adults, but they were Returning Students.
There was an assumption that you had a life outside of school. Whether it be jobs, kids, or whatever, professors expected you to do the best that you could and talk to them if there was a problem.
There was an assumption that everyone was broke or on their last dollar and that was okay. Professors didn’t assume you could afford a $300 textbook. I had a professor who actively encouraged us to rent textbooks from the library and even advised us to purchase some sort of wand scanner. Most people were pretty helpful and not very judgmental. Your car is a broken-down piece of crap? Well, I don’t even own one!
I learned responsibility, autonomy, and grew confidence. I didn’t feel like I was being looked down on or seen as less intelligent. I miss that feeling.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect. Some people are simply not built for human interaction or with any amount of competence, human decency, or common sense. It happens.
However, I miss MVCC and I dare anyone to tell me how community colleges don’t provide a quality education.
I think that you raise a really important issue about the validity of some sponsors of literacy over others. I completely agree that there really is no real objective reason why community college is considered “lesser than” an over-priced four-year university like DePaul. Any sponsor of literacy that positively impacted your life and learning should be celebrated and appreciated. It is a shame that our society tends to diminish some forms of higher education, especially since any kind of higher education is a privilege. Regardless of where or how one develops their literacy, the fact remains that there is economical value in that skill.
I also think that there are certain non-literary skills that are ignored or valued as less when, in reality, they are very important. MVCC was constantly trying to get people into their welding program, because America NEEDS more welders. However, the idea that skilled labor is important is never something that you’ll hear about from your guidance counselor.