American Dream or Nightmare? The problem with education in this country and how dropping out saved my career.
People often call millennials entitled, narcissistic, lazy, and delusional. I believe that we are ambitious, innovative, and pretty badass. We’re the generation that birthed technology, we survived the Bush Years, we’ve become Youtube famous, and we’ve also endured the largest amount of student debt ever (a trillion dollars to be exact).
I like most of my peers were told by my parents that if I went to college and got a good job that everything would be ok. We were promised security and stability but received nothing.
I came from humble beginnings so a college education for me was like a golden ticket. In fact there was really no other option presented. My mom (bless her) worked two jobs for the majority of my life and constantly encouraged me to not end up like her. I should go on and get a degree- the respectable and bullet proof way of escaping poverty. She told me that it’s not where you start but where you end and not to become a victim of circumstance. I’m grateful for her words because they instilled a relentless motivation for success that would drive me.
I received great grades all throughout high school and was a poster child for financial aid (poor, black, latina, and a woman… just sign me up!) I went on to receive several scholarships to help cover the costs of my tuition but even that wasn’t enough- I was forced to take out loans. One of the hardest parts about being a minority millennial is the burden to beat the odds and also to withstand the sacrifcies our white counterparts would never face. We’re expected to go to college not only to become saviors for ourselves but also for our families. Not only did I have to graduate, pay off my loans, and find gainful employment- but I also had the thought looming in the back of my mind- how exactly will I be able to take care of my mother? Talk about pressure.
Regardless of the pressure I decided to pursue my college degree- surely it would save me in the end. I studied political science, became active in student government and even started my own non profit organization (my entrepreneurial bug has been existent for some time). I was heading into my Junior year and something happened. My grades slipped.. so low in fact that I was put on academic probation. I became so focused on the success of my organization that school took a second seat. I started to convince myself that in the long run I maybe wouldn’t even need a degree if I wanted to start my own business… I should be spending my time networking and learning about entrepreneurship- neither of which really existed on my campus. I also started to notice that my friends (most of which happened to be older) were graduating college but their dreams weren’t coming true- in fact they had turned into nightmares. Racking up thousands of dollars in debt, settling for a position they didn’t even study for, and even worse moving back into the same room they swore they’d never return to when they graduated high school. Surely this would not become my fate. Kanye West was a huge influence in my life at the time, I figured if he could drop out and become an icon I could too. I was too woke to play by the rules only for it to leave me at a disadvantage later on.
I refused to spend another moment wasting time to witness the inevitable existence that had plagued my friends lives. I decided that I was pretty ballsy with decent enough communication skills to make it sans my degree. The fall of my junior year I dropped out and decided to move to NYC. My mother cried, mentors questioned me, peers doubted me but who cared it was all or nothing.
I moved to NYC when I was 20 and started my career in recruiting- I figured it would help me pay the bills while I figured out my next great idea. Little did I know it would change my life and perception of education forever. I was responsible for recruiting platinum level sales executives. I recall doing phone screens with grads from top 10 schools with master degrees giving them basic career advice. Do this to your resume, go for this salary, put this on your LinkedIn profile. It hit me- holy shit, I’m the gatekeeper. Little ole me, southern gal from NC, dropout with no network at all, who’s only seen silver spoons at dinner, telling people with masters degrees that they weren’t good enough for an entry level job. How the hell did that happen???????
What was even more awkward was talking to the 30 +year old working professionals telling them that they too were “not a fit”. How could they have wasted so much of their time and money only to get rejected by me?
I caught up with friends back home that were now 2 years out of school without gainful employment. Many who considered going to grad school only to buy themselves more time… meanwhile I had built a life for myself in one of the hardest cities to ever make it in just because I was willing to take a risk. As I continued to grow in my career I landed at a staffing firm that focus in digital media technology (I was the only black recruiter there) I started understanding the tech landscape and how amazing it was and I noticed that I wasn’t around anyone that looked like me.
I got frustrated thinking about how my friends used companies like Facebook and Twitter a daily basis but had no idea that they could actually work at one of these companies. I knew that they would ditch their current jobs in a second to have the chance to pursue an internship or even entry level position. The issue is they were completely unaware. How exactly can you prepare for something that you don’t even know exists? I knew at that moment that I would become an advocate for diversity in tech, I just didn’t know how yet.
I traded in my crazy life of talent acquisition to pursue a career coaching role. After all, my favorite part of recruiting was getting to know people one-on-one and help them figure out how to get from point A to point B. I worked at General Assembly (they have done an AMAZING job of disrupting the education space) and grew to know some of the most amazing individuals I’ve ever met. My students were college grads and dropouts, freelancers, financiers, corporate suits, parents, people with mortgages, and people with everything to lose. Despite their mixed demographic one common thread tied them together- their curiosity and passion to get a job in tech. They too were willing to risk it all, just like I was a few years prior. They saw a glimpse of something great and knew that if they stayed the course then it would pay off. It was incredible to see these people grow and accomplish things they never thought they would.
Hearing their stories and the stories of my friends confirmed what I already knew. College had failed us. It failed to provide us with the proper career development, education, tools, and skills needed to be successful in the 21st century digital economy. When I created 2020Shift my goal was to get as many minority millennials in the door as possible. The people that look like me, the people I see on social media everyday, the people I see when I’m at retail store or a restaurant, the people that are drowning in debt wondering what to do next. Those are the people that I wanted to help.
I knew that I needed to apply my coaching and recruiting experience to the people that needed me the most- fellow minority millennials with a dream.
After making the leap into entrepreneurship I feel like my journey has come full circle. I went from doubting a system to figuring out a way to innovate it. With the launch of our recent program #MoreThanCode, we built something I wish I had access to years ago. A custom curriculum based on tech skills needed in the market, taught by women and minorities that worked in the field. Outside of education, underrepresented groups so desperately need access. Access to a network that serves them and an industry that’s growing everyday. Colleges and universities seem to be aware of their setbacks as I’ve seen a lot start to focus more on tech and even open up innovation and entrepreneurship centers on their campuses. I encourage everyone in higher ed to continue these efforts. They make all the difference.
And for the ones that seem to be caught in limbo, remember what my mom told me. It’s not where you start, it’s where you end.
