Before I was to officially start my PhD journey in the Fall of 2016, I had to finish my duties as an Instructor and Area Coordinator of Computer Science. One of those duties was to attend a week long event at a National Lab in the United States for Faculty. Ironically, attending this same event was a person who worked at the Institution I was planning on attending! That sounds awesome right? I could talk to them about their Institution and find out about the specific program was interested in. I was excited to be honest. Well, that excited slowly turned to dread.
The conversation started out cordial and then it took a turn! They started asking me questions about my educational background. I told them what institutions I attended and what my majors were. We discussed how I attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for both my Undergrad and Master’s programs. Well clearly I said the wrong thing because they proceeded to school me about their institution and how people who attended HBCUs before their institution fare.
They said and I quote ” Oh, well people who attend our institution form HBCUs end up failing out or dropping out after their first semester/year”
YES! You read that right. After they said that, I just shut down. I was beyond stunned. Here I am in my professional role at an event with other Faculty from different institutions and someone says this. All I could think was do I even want to attend this Institution where clearly I would be setting my own-self up to fail because of the type of school I chose to attend for my other degrees?
In that moment I had a choice to make. Do I let what this person said deter me from pursuing a PhD at the institution of my choice or do I use their low opinion of HBCUs and prove a point?
I used what they said as fuel to succeed in my PhD program. What they said motivated me to turn their negativity into something positive. I did not quit. I did not just give in to “What usually happens to students who came from a H.B.C.U. to their Institution.”
I share this story because I hope it encourages you to break down barriers that stand in your way. Use other’s negativity as fuel to persevere. I could have let what they said to me take root and stop me from even starting my first year as a PhD student. I could have given up right then and there before I even started but instead I made a conscious decision to prove them and anyone else wrong who felt I was not “well equipped” due to my previous Academic Institution choices.
For the record my Alma Maters helped to shape me into the person I am today and I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world! Historically Black Colleges and Universities matter and they produce intelligent, hardworking members of society!
Have you ever been told you would not succeed? How did that affect you? Did you use that as fuel to prove them wrong? Let me know in the comments.
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND! WHAT OTHERS MAY SAY IS NOT RELEVANT YOUR PERSEVERANCE IS!
Keep pushing,
Lit Hope L