By Macy Meinhardt, Voice & Viewpoint Staff Writer
Access to a college education is often considered a pathway to success, personal growth, and economic prosperity. However, for many Black San Diegans, this journey is marked by unique challenges and barriers that hinder their ability to fully participate in and benefit from higher education.
That is according to Maxine Amaru, a San Diego native who went through the San Diego Unified School system and then went on to pursue multi degrees later in life through San Diego State and City colleges. Leading a college funding workshop session with the San Diego Association of Black Social Workers, Amaru spoke to attendees last Saturday on how she managed to obtain her five degrees debt free.
Her secret? Becoming her own advocate, primarily through scholarship research.
“If there are 1,000 scholarships to be had, I will hit 500 of them,” Ms. Amaru explained, as she described how she obtained multiple community and state college degrees without having to pay for it.
As a Black disabled woman, “no one would help me,” Amaru argued, in regards to getting information on how a higher education can be accessible for her–which typically is a responsibility charged to school guidance counselors.
“These people are supposed to be helping our children and People of Color get a higher education but they don’t give us information,” Amaru said, which she claims is by-design.
According to research by EdSource, the needs of Black students, advocates argue, are too often overlooked by non-Black middle and high school counselors. Black students are more likely to be placed in classes that don’t prepare them for college or a career, subject to harsher discipline and less likely to have their mental health needs addressed, research shows.
“There’s a subconscious mindset that Black students, students in poverty, cannot learn,” said Lisa Andrews, a director at the California College Guidance Initiative and a counseling professor at the University of La Verne, near Pomona. “To change that, school counseling needs to be transformational and revolutionary.”
In addition, according to findings from the State of Higher Education for Black Californians, California high schools graduate Black students at lower rates than all other racial/ethnic groups, and have failed to address the significantly lower percentages of Black students who are offered the college preparatory curriculum—a 17-percentage point gap in A-Gii completion between Black and White students exists.
The A-G course sequence is a set of classes California high school students must take to be eligible to apply to CSU and UC campuses.
Meanwhile, Amaru also shared the importance of joining service organizations and clubs, not necessarily because it’s fun or for a “good time”, but because they are vital for networking, and building a team of supporters and sense of belonging–especially within primarily white institutions such as San Diego State.
“That’s where you feel like you belong. Those people are going to help you push you and understand what you’re going through,” Amaru said, in regards to the significance of building a foundation within the community.
Amaru also emphasized to attendees that you do not have to be a straight-A student to obtain scholarships, as there are many outside organizations that are geared towards funding students with unique identities and life experiences. This approach Amaru shared is accomplished by dedicating time to working the “search engine,” she described and looking into niche scholarship opportunities to apply for.
Other areas Amaru shared within the workshop included information on applying for FAFSA, writing personal biographies, resume and CV building, and making personal goals and vision statements for oneself.
Currently in her fourth year at San Diego State University, Amaru is on track to graduate this year and is planning on attending graduate school, also for free, in the upcoming future. Her research is geared towards social work and Black family preservation.
