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Community college started me toward my PhD

Students register for classes on the final day of registration at Bunker Hill Community College. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Students register for classes on the final day of registration at Bunker Hill Community College. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

When I was accepted to a graduate program at New York University, I was working full time as a janitor. An old work supervisor checked in with me and asked how I was. I told him I was nervous and excited about starting grad school.

"You are born to the broom," he said, laughing. "Why are you wasting your time?"

I was annoyed, but there was a kernel of truth to what he said. I was born to the broom in the sense that I come from generations of folks who work with their hands: janitors, roofers, handymen and fishermen. Growing up, success meant that I would work. My parents didn’t disregard the potential of college — if college helped me get a job, good, but it wasn’t a requirement. When I struggled with the coursework, they felt limited in their ability to help.

As a student from a working-class background, success in college did not come naturally to me. I dropped out of two different colleges as an undergraduate, failing a lot of classes in the process. No one, including me, would ever have predicted that I would complete a doctorate degree and become a college professor.

Community college helped me feel seen ... and provided me space to work on my education without a sense of shame that I was not prepared for college.

Only when I finally attended community college did I feel that maybe I could be a successful college student. My classes there were full of other students who were also working full time, who understood my struggles juggling my work and family and education responsibilities. I finally felt like I belonged. I didn’t get great grades at the community college either, but I did get real skills — in writing, reading and critical thinking — that I was able to develop in my bachelor's and graduate programs.

But other students shouldn’t have to struggle so hard to pay for community college. Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a plan that would make community college free to people who are 25 and older and don’t have college degrees. Senate President Karen Spilka has said she wants to make community college free for everyone.

Community college helped me feel seen, created opportunities to make connections with instructors and provided me space to work on my education without a sense of shame that I was not prepared for college. I eventually became a professor at MassBay Community College because I want to give other students the same chances. Currently, the weighted average cost of tuition and mandatory fees for in-state students at Massachusetts community colleges is $6,865.00 . While earning all my degrees, I worked, usually full time. I worked in retail stores, as an administrative assistant, as a newspaper deliverer, but mostly, as a janitor.

When I first went to college, I was not only juggling my work responsibilities, but I was panicking about my ability to pay for needed school supplies — textbooks, computer, transportation. These extra costs have only gotten worse for my students today. As a faculty member, I try hard to require only inexpensive or free items for my students, and they work hard to juggle their work responsibilities, and their desire to earn a higher education. But that responsibility should not solely fall on educators and students.

... I often had to decide between working more on assignments or working shifts for my job.

Working-class students are much more likely to succeed if they can work less and focus more on their education. As a student, I often had to decide between working more on assignments or working shifts for my job. If my bosses called me in to work on the weekend, I couldn’t say no; I needed to pay rent. While some students are lucky enough to never have to choose between studying and earning money, many community college students don’t have that privilege.

Free access to a community college education would provide individuals with opportunities to pursue the life they want. Not everyone will want to attend a four-year college or pursue a master’s or doctorate degree, but they will develop skills in reading, writing, critical thinking and analyzing information. Our whole community benefits when individuals have the opportunity to pursue their passion for a new field, or to feel excited about learning new things even after multiple failures.

Massachusetts has a unique opportunity to help students succeed, to help build a more equitable society, to provide access to a free community college education for all. Every day I worry about how to pay off over $200,000 in student loan debt. While none of this is from my undergraduate career, and at this point, a significant portion is from accrued interest, the average student loan debt as of 2022 in Massachusetts was $34,146 . Without the benefit of generational wealth, I had to take on debt in order to invest in my own education. I don’t want my students to have to bear this weight as well. We have the opportunity to make sure that learning and success are accessible to everyone.

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Brandi Perri Cognoscenti contributor
Brandi Perri is an assistant professor of sociology at Massachusetts Bay Community College.

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