Growing Up in Philadelphia

Growing up in South Philadelphia as an African-American male presented some of life's greatest challenges, dangers, and obstacles to survive. Yet it provided the best opportunity to DREAM.

As I reflect upon my youth and try to remember my high school classmates and those that lived in the neighborhood, far too many didn't survive. They became part of the death statistics due to gang wars, drugs, and criminal violence. There were a few, like myself, who did survive, but those numbers are pale in comparison.

In spite of the odds being against me, I found a way to pursue my dreams, through EDUCATION. I was not a gifted student nor was I a talented athlete, yet I found a pathway from life in "The Hood." I was fortunate, as well as stubborn, not to let my high school guidance counselor talk me out of pursuing college in favor of getting a job "using my hands." I had no clear sense of what life would bring to this poor black teenager from South Philadelphia, but I was determined it would not be hanging out on a corner—"chilling."

When informed by one of my high school teachers of a special program opportunity, I took a risk and applied. The Upward Bound program was held at Lincoln University. At the time, all I knew about Lincoln was that it was a black college located just outside of Philadelphia. I gave up my part-time job working in a grocery store and took the chance to explore Upward Bound. This decision proved to be pivotal (the turning point) in my life.

My Upward Bound experience gave me a new level of self-confidence and passion to drive harder towards my goals and dreams; and, most of all, it provided an up close perspective of colleges that participated in these college day forums. Through these forums, I became aware of Brandeis University. I applied, was accepted with a full financial aid package, and graduated four years later with honors. But, most of all, while at Brandeis, I continued to feel a strong connection to the Upward Bound experience it had provided me and I worked in Brandeis' program during undergraduate school and throughout graduate school. During my involvement, I was able to help over 750 high school students from the Boston area have a chance to pursue their dreams like I had at Lincoln University's summer program.

Hope, faith, perseverance, and having a DREAM were all I had as a young man in Philadelphia. My family was poor and no one in my immediate family or relatives in the area had gone to college. Yet my personal determination and the support from my family and friends made the difference. A quote that has inspired me was shared by the late Senator Robert Kennedy. He often said "You see things as they are; and ask why? But, I dream of things that never were and ask—why not?" To be continued...