My Journey from Urban DC to Vermont

by Khalil Lee

The end of summer leads me to reflect on the journey I have traveled from high school to colllege. As a high school student growing up in an underserved D.C. neighborhood, I attended Friendship Public Charter School’s Collegiate Academy in Northeast.

In an area long plagued by poverty, unemployment and crime, in a still racially divided city, this high school nonetheless graduates 92 percent of its students on time — within four years. This compares to 59 percent for the D.C. Public Schools system and 69 percent for D.C. charter schools as a whole. And 100 percent of this college preparatory high school’s graduates are accepted to college.

Now a student at the University of Vermont — one of a number of colleges where I was accepted — I believe that one of my high school mentors was right to predict that I could flourish at this college, far from home.

Once matriculated, I quickly appreciated Vermont’s vibrant college community. As a student of color, I knew well before arrival that I would encounter an overwhelmingly white student body, faculty and administration. But I was keen not to allow my diverse experiences to become a barrier to making the most of my higher education opportunity.

Friendship’s role in helping prepare me for college included an academically rigorous Advanced Placement syllabus — something of a rarity among urban public schools. Although a public school, Friendship paid for me to take college classes for college credit at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia.

A somewhat harder adjustment for me came in the form of adapting to college living and managing my finances for the first time. These skills are hard to learn before reality bites.

My initial choice of majors was influenced by the opportunity to study economics and Chinese. Now enrolled to study history and Chinese as majors, with speech and debate as minors, I am embracing a new language while simultaneously pursuing disciplines I enjoyed as a student at Collegiate. I decided to persevere even knowing that many of my classmates arrived at least somewhat familiar with Chinese — an uncommon option in urban schools.

Complementing my academic interests are those that I have pursued through my time on the Student Government Association and via board of trustees’ meetings. Particularly important to me is debate about college policies. All of these forums have assisted me as I have honed arguments and changed my thinking about how our society does — and does not — work, as has my reading of various authors while at college.

An interest in politics took me to work with the Burlington government — an experience for which I am especially grateful. The local Neighborhood Planning Assembly brought me into contact with Rep. Kesha Ram, a woman of color and the nation’s youngest state legislator, and her colleagues. From holding election meet and greets, to participating in hearings for zoning permits and discussions about housing developments, to offering advice to candidates, I have developed a taste for politics.

Some might think Vermont an inauspicious starting point for an African-American young man to pursue a political career. I disagree. I have found my different experiences in New England and the nation’s capital a source of strength.

Living life in different environments is not straightforward. It can be frustrating explaining the realities of urban life to college peers. Sadly, the belief that social ills, including racism, are yesterday’s problems is a persistent worldview in non-urban America.

I have learned that it is all too easy to dismiss the perspectives of others whom we do not know, and therefore struggle to understand. From growing up with my grandmother to living with my adoptive white parents shortly before college, and from Northeast D.C. to Burlington, Vt., my life has taught me many lessons. Sustained by close friendships — especially at the most difficult times — and also by mentors, I have learned to adapt and thrive.

Looking at politics, I believe that, while respect for others is important, this should not blind us to the fact that the past casts its shadow on the present. And while it is fashionable to stress the ethic of public service, our efforts ought to be judged by our role in correcting wrongs that the wronged lack power to overcome.

Opening our minds to that which we do not know is a beginning, but nothing more; truly understanding and changing what is wrong is more important.

Khalil Lee is a D.C. native and a student at the University of Vermont. 

A Friendship PCS graduate shares his journey from DC to college in Vermont.