“Since my parents went to college I always assumed . . . that I would get into a college and attend later one,” said senior Hayley Mauck, an RA for the Whitman Institute of Scholastic Enrichment (WISE) program.
WISE has been present on campus every summer since 2006. Yet when explaining that I would be working for the program, I was still frequently asked the question, “What’s WISE?”
WISE is a three-day long camp in August intended to expose primarily low-income and first-generation middle school students to college. The seventh- and eighth-graders students are given the opportunity to attend pre-college advising workshops, go to several lectures by Whitman professors, and stay in a residence hall. This is done with in hopes of informing and exciting them about the idea of a college education.
At the camp, the RAs were explicitly asked to talk about diversity with the students. Before starting the camp, the students and RAs read an essay titled “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie. In addition to the essay, the staff was provided with a list of topics to discuss with the campers, which included questions like: “Have you ever been ridiculed for being smart?” and “Have you ever felt as though someone expected you to fail?” The essay implied that minority children are oftentimes “expected to be stupid.” The discussion was meant to reflect on the stereotypes and expectations associated with disadvantaged students.
Due my experience working with young campers at my other summer position at a gymnastics camp, I understood the potential implications of creating an expectation for a child. I knew that even if a child simply overheard a nervous parent telling me that the camper was “shy and quiet,” then the child would automatically become shy and quiet because he or she had suddenly become hyper-conscious of his or her behavior. Having seen these types of scenarios before, I hesitated with the discussion questions, as I felt that they brought the students’ attention to a topic which had the potential to negatively affect their confidence and performance.
Some of the campers “didn’t want to talk about stereotypes and expectations,” observed fellow RA, sophomore Allie Willson, because they felt as though stereotypes had no impact on their personal success. However, it was obvious that other students seemed to feel obligated to answer questions like “Why is it seen as uncool to be smart?” They seemed to pause after hearing the question, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy the RAs, as though their previous schooling experiences had already ingrained in them that there was a right answer to every question.
Because WISE is a program intended for students in the Walla Walla area, it was an accurate representation of the challenges present amongst groups of socio-economically disadvantaged individuals in our community; challenges which some Whitties may be unaware of because of our own backgrounds and attitudes towards college. WISE gives Whitman the opportunity to become involved with these individuals and to share our experiences with them in order to help them succeed. However, I learned that it is important to be aware of the expectations we may be unintentionally imposing on them, as they have the potential to negatively influence the student’s own perception of themselves.
