Today I took to the streets of Harlem in an attempt to interview teenagers and children. I walked to Promise Academy around 4 o’clock and children were flooding the streets. Here are my findings:
“I defiantly want to go to college. Because I am smart and I am a good person.”
–Nikayla, Age 8, Harlem
“You have to go to college, man. Do you want to live with your mother forever? Yeah, That is what I thought!”
–Stephen, Age 12 Harlem
Unlike the jaded upper middle class college students in Washington Square Park, every child I spoke to was eager to go to college. Many of them saw an undergraduate degree as the only way out of Harlem. An interesting point about my interviews, was the vocal mention that the children wanted to go to college. When I asked the children what they wanted to do when they grew up, many immediately said, “I want to go to College” instead of a ballerina, firefighter, doctor, etc.
