Going Back to The HOOD After College…

Going back to the hood after college was and still is a very difficult transition for me. When I was in college I could feel myself growing as a person. I met people who held intelligent conversations on a regular basis, and the bachelor degrees that me and my peers pursued were viewed only as the beginning of our educational milestones.  However, after returning to my old neighborHOOD after college I feel as though I am melting.  Instead of intelligent conversations I get peculiar looks followed by the question, “where you from” if I even try to bring a logical or theoretical point of view to a conversation. I get told all the time that “a degree isn’t everything” from people who haven’t earned a degree, and black men in my community act and have stated that they feel intimidated by me. At the end of the day I sometimes feel like a miss-fit in my own community. A degree that I was so proud to earn has become something I don’t talk about unless asked. I even told my mother to stop introducing me as her daughter that graduated from college because it was provoking people (mostly women) to have a nasty attitude towards me. In college they taught us to go home and teach the people in our communities the things we have learned, because the true goal of gaining knowledge is to share it. However, what do you do when the people in your community refuse to learn anything from you, down you for getting an education, and treat you as if you don’t belong? Express it!

-Alex

13 thoughts on “Going Back to The HOOD After College…”

  1. Alex this is a deep expression. I think that you should continue to be proud about your degree. Key words are : YOUR DEGREE! People are going to naturally hate or become intimidated no matter what you do. What if you went to trade school so instead of a degree you have an awesome trade. Trust me they will still hate. But dont feel bad about their negative energy cause that has nothing to do with you. and i’m sure that you will come across that person that will feel inspired to obtain thier degree just because you did.

    1. I think people will be inspired by your light and it will help them see theirs. We have to let people choose their own path

  2. Don’t be ashamed of your degree you earned it. You have accomplished something that no one can take away from you. You are the one who stand up nights studying, researching and cramming. Us as black women should be proud of everything that we do. We set examples for our youth that you can come from the hood and still go do what society doesn’t hope for us. Be proud, stand up loud and tell others about your hard work.

    1. Socrates told a story to his students we in modern day refer to as the Cave Allegory (if u took Intro to Philosophy, u might have read it in there). There was a community of people who lived their entire life in a cave: they worked there, ate there, slept there, had their children there. There was very little light in the cave, only that which seeped from the entrance of the cave behind them. They were chained in such a way that they could only see forward, so they never saw each other’s faces, only the shadows of people on the walls. Well, one day, someone decided that he was sick of being in the cave, broke the chain, and got out. The light of ourdoors of course was blinding, and his eyes hurt. The heat of the sun felt odd on his skin, used to the damp cool of the cave. But, after a while, his eyes and skin adjusted, he looked around, and was amazed at what he saw! So he decided to go back and tell the other members about life outside the cave. He convinced a few, but when they stepped outside, they were so scared of the blinding light and warm sun they thought he was trying to hurt them!! They killed the man, and went back into the cave.

      Sometimes people are so used to the shadows and darkness of “hood life,” the silhouettes that people become doing the same thing over and over again for years, that when one of us who “got out” tries to show them the light of education, they feel threatened by it, and don’t know how to react. That’s why time and again brothas go to prison and end up right back in, cuz they don’t know any other way and the “light” of good citizenship burns their eyes and skin, so to speak. Don’t get bummed, sis: i think everyone who has left the hood has a similar story of “why can’t they just be proud of me instead of acting like I’m some pariah they can’t touch or thinks is “better” than them…it’s depressing to see niggas doing the same ole shit and I can’t talk to them cuz they have nothing to talk about.” You HAVE to keep trying to bring people into the light, though. Hell, nobody else is.

  3. This is very deep..Since I have been home from school I sometimes feel that I am an outsider..I cant sit amongst my peers without being told “there you go talking all intelligent” as if something is wrong with being intelligent. The conclusion that I have come too is that “They are afraid of seeing someone else succeed because they were too lazy or unfocused to go the extra mile to succeed in life.”

  4. I feel they dont have to learn anything from me, but at least something about theirselves. How can anybody stay the same? Even when you are the best at something there is always room for improvement. Im not putting anyone down but the only time you dont grow is when you die.

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  9. I especially like your last paragraph – and I did start a blog – two in fact – just a few months ago! I always write letters to my children at Christmas – sometimes more often, but at least once a year. They know their letters will be in their stockings! Probably wouldn’t do anything you said not to – just a little bit inhibited! But that’s just me. Congratulations on being freshly pressed!

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