Non-trads and College; American Born Chinese, playgrounds in Philly

Previously I mentioned that I recently earned my college degree at the age of 34. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and very aware of the difficulties so many poor, working-class and students of color have with getting into college and actually earning their degree. In fact, I have decided that in whatever capacity I can, I will bring attention to this matter and try to work on ways to make sure POC and poor and working class folks get all the help they need to get into and stay in college.

I read a fabulous book called First in the Family. Advice About College From First-Generation Students by Kathleen Cushman. Although it is a slim volume, the advice and guidance provided in the pages of this book is truly invaluable and something I wish I could turn to when I was a student. For me, I always felt like everyone else had some kind of background knowledge on how to navigate studying, missing home, CULTURE SHOCK, being in the extreme minority on campus, etc. I also felt it was difficult to get support from parents, family and/or friends because they were not in school nor had they been to college so they had no useful advice. These topics are all covered in this book written for and by POC, poor and working class students. One thing that was not covered as much was being a non-traditional student-that is, over the age of 24. Being an adult returning to college, particularly in a school with no programs specifically for this demographic, is daunting to say the least. Hopefully the Lumina Foundation, which provided generous support for the writing of the book, will also support the writing of a survival book for non-traditional students.

I also just finished reading Gene Yang's book American Born Chinese. I'm a sucker for graphic novels written by POC so when I found the book in my local library I snatched it up. Although billed as a young adult book, this graphic novel is quite a good read for any person interested in a fictionalized account of the effects of Americanization and assimilation on folks of color. Yang gives us an intertwining triptych of the life of his protagonist, mixing myth and legends, pop culture, and teen angst that is engaging, funny and heartbreaking.

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Given that my little one is a precocious and active two year old, my wife and I are always on the lookout for fun things to do. Given that we live so close to Philly we try to get to the city (and diversity) as often as possible lest our son think that the world is just made up of White folks like those found in the 'burbs. An acquaintance of ours pointed us to an out of the way playground/playhouse in Fairmount Park called Smith Playhouse. Although it isn'tt easily accessible by train or bus (that we could tell) it was a short distance away from the Philadelphia Zoo off of Girard Avenue...It was pretty cool to see this house made just for children, to go down the famous wooden slide, and play on the new playground equipment. The house itself was 3 levels of playrooms which the little one truly enjoyed though it was pretty hot in there given that there was no air conditioning or ceiling fans. Even so, it was still fabulous and best of all FREE.