Nesley Bravo

4/24/12
Honors 121C
Spreading the Academia: The Benefits& Tensions
Tutors, after school help, academic assistance programs- all concepts that have naturally
been integrated into my society as well as plenty of other students lives. As this unconscious
thread of my life has been a part of my life for the past fourteen years of academia, I have joined
their ranks in hopes of sharing my belief in the importance of an education. Now after a quarter
and a half in The Dream Project and as a Pipeline tutor at Nova High School, I question my role,
my right, the tensions and benefits with my part in those organizations. I will be addressing the
town and gown relations between programs such as The Dream Project and Pipeline intervening
in schools. Is it the role of the teacher to be getting students into college or playing a mentor
role? What are the outcomes of stepping into a teachers territory? Are we playing a missionary
role or fulfilling an obligation? Do the schools even want us to give back? What makes us as
students in higher education play this role or feel like we have the right to pass around academia?
I will be pondering those questions with support from the three novels, Auto-Ethnographies: The
Anthropology of Academic Practices edited by Anne Meneley and Donna Young, Oppression to
Grace edited by Theodore Berry and Nathalie Mizelle and Anthropology Off The Shelf:
Anthropologists on writing edited by Alisse Waterson and Maria Vesperi.
To start off, as a student of higher education am I playing the missionary role by going
into lower income high schools and aiding students in pursuing an education past high school or
by being an after school tutor? What is my right in doing so? As a participant in these programs,
my participation did not begin out of duty or obligation for lower income, minority and first
generation students. Of course helping them is a joy I get out of The Dream Project and tutoring,
but as selfish as it sounds, I joined to personally learn about interacting with students and if
teaching was in my future. Tutoring at Nova is also a part of my service-based class. As Alisse
Waterston in Anthropology Off The Shelf, studied an inmate named Nora to understand her
different lifestyle, I want to study these students, specifically teenagers of lower income and in
alternative schools to understand them. I am curious as to what drives them to learn more despite

their familys educational backgrounds or what in alternative learning works and drives students
to learn. Another factor to address is whether or not the schools even want me and my fellow
tutors and mentors? If they feel like they do need additional help for their students, then what
factors keeps them from changing their curriculum or fixing those gaps? Finances or a lack of
budget may play a role. Student volunteers stepping onto teachers turfs and the dynamics of the
teacher- student volunteer relationship are concepts to analyze.
What does the dynamics of me stepping into their classrooms say about the teacher and
me? Do either of us think that its not a teachers role to help students seek higher education? Or
that they are not achieving their roles as teachers therefore need help? From my experience in
Nova High School, an alternative high school in Capitol Hill and from my work as a mentor at
Global Connections High School in the SeaTac area, the teachers have welcomed any help
possible. Stepping into their classrooms though, I feel the need to make sure I follow all their
regulations and make it known I am just a visitor. As a visitor, if I saw something I did not agree
with would I have the ability to speak up or have any jurisdiction? The same feeling can be seen
from the auto-ethnography Doctors With Borders by Lesley Gotlib. As an anthropologist, Gotlib
had to make her way into a clinic that involved strict guidelines on ethics. Legal contacts were
involved. As the doctors felt, and as some teachers would feel, Gotlib notes the doctors feelings,
They feared losing control over the outcome (Gotlib, 47). Students are easily influenced, so
its understandable as to why a teacher would fear a negative influence or some sort of outcome.
My personal experiences do not reflect this fear, but in general this does occur in classrooms. If
you are not wanted, then why be there? Gotlib was there for the sake of her Ph.D. and research. I
am there for my own academia. Another question to ponder is why would my teacher send me
into another teachers classroom? Why would getting into the clinic and dealing with the
doctors guidelines be a part of Gotlibs academia? Both lend a lens either of us has not been
exposed to. As Gotlib concluded from her experience that she discovered, what honest research
and cross-disciplinary dialogue should entail (Gotlib, 48). I, myself am discovering how to
work with students and if that is what my future entails. But as an outsider stepping into others
classrooms, what makes me qualified to do so?
What makes me established enough or what credentials are necessary to offer my aid?
This question stems back to the tension created by the idea that those who have worn the gown

are qualified in spreading academia and offering assistance due to their diploma. Does that mean
those who have less of an education are not knowledgeable enough to offer their services?
Authors from Oppression to Grace offer ideas and their own experiences to different
ways of thinking. Transitions: Finding My Voice, by Tinaya Webb is relatable to what nonacademia folks in towns may face. As an African American female, she has felt that, Black
women are often asked to accept existing forms of knowledge, instead of adding their
interpretation and voice (Webb, 60). This form of interaction is relatable to the town and gown
relationship. Non-academia community members may feel left in society to take the backseat and
follow new ideas or thoughts made by those in higher education institutions. They may feel as
the worth of their knowledge is less just because they have not obtained a diploma nor have the
letters Dr. before their names. These thoughts can be proven on our own campus by the
number of buildings named after Bill Gates and his family members. Bill Gates did not obtain a
college degree and yet is still successful.
As a woman, Webb also addresses another possible feeling that can be related to town
and gown relations. Webb notes how there were expectations for her way of life due to her
gender, So, when are you two going to get married?, (Webb, 63), her father would ask. As a
female, marriage and reproducing was seen as a responsibility. Expectations for a certain way of
life for those in and outside of the academy can be linked to Webb situation. Expectations were
created due to her gender, as they are for everyone varying on their level of education. It can be
said that those with a college diploma are expected to share what they have learned because it is
a rarity and an achievement that includes giving back to those who are not as fortunate to. But
does getting a college degree make you fortunate and how so? For those who are still in the K
through 12 system or have decided not to go beyond that, may be expected to just be a part of the
town, work and produce nothing more.
Another reason I and my fellow Dream Project and Pipeline peers may be seen as
qualified to go out into schools is relatable in Bridging Identities: Making Sense of Who We Are
Becoming to Be, by Aki Murata. As a student from Japan to continue her studies in America,
Murata is exposed to two different ways of academic thinking. She struggles with the different
perspectives and adjusting to the different environments she is in. Murata claims in America, It
is not what we know that is important; it is how we know it and how we communicate it that are

important (27). This way of thinking is reflective in the way the importance of peoples
knowledge may be perceived. How we know it, lends to those who have gone through the
academy being seen as more valuable with knowledge and in sharing it. I believe what people
know is more important than how they know it. Those who did not go through the academia are
still capable of knowledge as all human beings are and may have gained knowledge through
different ways like experience. It does not make their knowledge any less, but that is how it may
be perceived in our society as experience may not be seen as a formal way. Through putting nonacademia peoples thoughts on a lower pedestal we are possibly jeopardizing valuable
knowledge from society and exploring their potential.
The concept of what a community is being given versus what they need is considered in
an auto-ethnography from Auto-Ethnographies: The Anthropology of Academic Practices called,
Ethnographys Edge in Development by Pauline Barber. Barber notes how some anthropologists
try to empower communities; thus, the methods become the end in itself, not a tool to further
understanding of social complexities (Barber, 95) instead of actually empowering the
Philippines the way they need and want to be empowered. The same idea can be considered in
the high schools I am associated with. There are different notions of empowerment, and are we
empowering them the way we want to or the way they need and want to be? In Barbers
situation, anthropologists around her are trying to improve what they can and are acting as social
workers, instead of investigating the causes of the Filipinos problems in the first place. Are we
doing the same? Are we just doing grassroots work or are we actually digging at the real problem
these schools face?
Mentorship- what does this relationship imply and involve? In Oppression To Grace,
Beatrice Bridglall shares the importance of mentorship in her story, Mentoring and Its Role In
Scholarly Development. Bridglall foremost emphasizes Clearly, high levels of achievement,
scholarly or otherwise, appear to be associated with the attitudes and behaviors that develop
under the guidance of a significant other (Bridglall, 92). The main goal of The Dream Project is
to provide mentorship to high school seniors in their journey applying for some type of higher
education. One factor to consider with such a role in the community is, are we spreading the
message that higher education is the only way to success? Do our own biases of being at a four
year clog or effect what we teach them? We are taught to prevent our own biases and to

acknowledge there are different paths in life to take, but with the emphasis on higher education,
we are possibly creating a wider divide between the town and gown parts of society. Ten
years ago programs like The Dream Project were not as profound as they are now. This can be
due to the challenging job market and how more jobs require a higher degree. Higher education
is important, but is not the only resource to success. If students are taught that then it could create
identity conflicts where students end up picking a pathway that does not suit them best, but they
chose because they thought they only could achieve success that way. Lastly, is emphasizing
higher education a responsibility of the teachers, or should it even be considered a role? I believe
as Bridglall demonstrated in her own experience with her mentor Edmund Gordan, teachers can
be mentors, but I believe they cannot be mentors for all students. With growing class numbers
there is not enough time to reach out to all students, or the ability to relate to all of them on a
deeper level necessary to reach mentorship, which is where we come in, The Dream Project.
Overall, as a participant in the program I must be constantly aware of the possibility that we are
dividing the line and spreading the stereotypes between the town and gown.
Just a week ago I was uncertain of what the term town and gown involved. Now I have
a plethora of questions to address and think of as I continue on through the Academy and
continue on in programs such as The Dream Project and Pipeline. How do we identify ourselves
in the Academy and those in our community who are not? What is our role being in academia
and what are the consequences of them? The teachers territory, the idea that what we are giving
the community isnt what they want and thoughts on how we can improve town and gown
relations are concepts that must all also be considered. Auto-Ethnographies: The Anthropology of
Academic Practices edited by Anne Meneley and Donna Young, Oppression to Grace edited by
Theodore Berry and Nathalie Mizelle and Anthropology Off The Shelf: Anthropologists on
writing edited by Alisse Waterson and Maria Vesperi are novels that have aided in deepening my
understanding of town and gown relations besides my own experience. These ideas can be
connected to other parts of our identities and enforces the importance in recognizing and
identifying the whys in whom we are and how our roles in society impact it.