American Dreams and Challenges at Columbia

While the School of General Studies has one of the most exciting programs at Columbia, it doesn’t favor poorer students, especially international students. I have seen and heard a lot about dropouts. I have seen high school dropouts, middle school dropouts, college dropouts, and the Kanye West kind of dropouts. But I took the reality and causes of their situation for granted until I was on the verge of dropping out of school last week. My near-dropout had nothing to do with my wishes, destiny, reservations, personal inhibitions, or definitions of what the academic is about, but rather because of my poverty. Despite the constant assurances that there is a safe space and place for students from diverse backgrounds, poorer students are constantly sidelined from the Columbia experience.

When I entered the University in January ’05 and the school “forgot” to give me housing, I deferred for a semester. That situation complicated my status. I arrived on the assurances of old alumni—CEOs of banks and acquaintances through my TV and radio gigs in my home town of Accra. Friends from other Ivies convinced me there is no Ivy League school that does not have a financial aid program for international students and that these days, need-blind admissions make schools worth pursuing in America. They congratulated me on my admission, told me to stay warm, drove me to the airport, and encouraged me to enjoy my studies. I now wonder if my university has room for determined, hardworking, but needy students.

My lack of housing didn’t matter, because I found a distant relative to host me in the Bronx. But the community I lived in came with fresh challenges. The predictions surrounding my impending educational experiences were gloomy. Their logic was that I could become a taxi driver and make more than $1,000 a week and return home after a few years to live like a king, rather than give Columbia $46,000 a year. That makes sense, but the reality is that I can’t go home to represent the community whose contributions and support saw me through all my educational experiences with only a taxi-driving experience from New York.

I was told I couldn’t get on the radio like I did in Accra because I had an accent and was black. I didn’t budge. After calling many radio stations in NYC, I ended up presenting my poetry on the “Wake Up Call,” a community-based station on Wall Street. That experience confirmed my belief in the possibilities and opportunities in this country and great city. I was elated to start at Columbia.

While I have had some support from benevolent hearts and minds to keep me in college, Columbia doesn’t seem to have taken interest in the financial burden of a 12 credit minimum for international students whose counterparts can take fewer classes in addition to receiving support from the school, the state, and the country. Poor international students do not have that pleasure. In addition to not being able to take fewer credits or as many as we can afford, we do not receive the kind of financial backing that reflects the minimum cost of our education. I have raised money for school through friends, community, investors, and philanthropists, but that has happened each semester, and it is not fair or easy. After each effort, I believed Columbia would notice, open up, make the experience more about the quality education and fine opportunities than the money. But dropping out seemed to loom in my face each time I focused more on school and contributing to my community.

I joined my friends during the attempts by the FAiR coalition, the student group for financial aid reform, to advocate for the educational destinies of students whose parents earn less than $60,000 a year. The coalition succeeded in securing that move, but the opportunity did not extend to international students or students in GS. Some people insist the goal of the administration is to make money through its GS program, but I don’t believe that. Even if it’s true, I believe the administration has the courage to advocate for poor students whose efforts and hard work indicate their willingness and desire to make a better world for the next generation through a Columbia education.

Ishmael Osekre is a junior in the School of
General Studies.
Osekre’s Vibe runs alternate Wednesdays.
Specopinion@columbia.edu