The NMJC kids and college.
People often ask me for updates about the kids from Not Much Just Chillin’, who were in middle school eight years ago. I’m in touch with all of them to varying degrees, from Facebook friend to practically siblings—way too close to retain any professional distance. So despite Lily’s mother’s pleas to write another book about her daughter so that she might get into her brain again, I never did so.
But now that the national conversation on education is so focused on college preparation and completion, I think about these kids—sorry, “kids” is a hard habit to break when you have spent ages with them at the roller rink—all the time. These six people grew up all but one squarely planted in the middle and upper-middle class, went through an affluent (according to some measures, “best”) school system in an affluent state and got decent grades. Yet only a few are on track to graduate from college on time.
Jimmy attends a big state university, and Elizabeth goes to a small private college with a synchronized swimming program. They are both full-time and I think on a solid track toward graduation. Mia moved from community college to an elite private university, then withdrew for reasons I can’t get into here. (They had nothing to do with academic preparation,
But now that the national conversation on education is so focused on college preparation and completion, I think about these kids—sorry, “kids” is a hard habit to break when you have spent ages with them at the roller rink—all the time. These six people grew up all but one squarely planted in the middle and upper-middle class, went through an affluent (according to some measures, “best”) school system in an affluent state and got decent grades. Yet only a few are on track to graduate from college on time.
Jimmy attends a big state university, and Elizabeth goes to a small private college with a synchronized swimming program. They are both full-time and I think on a solid track toward graduation. Mia moved from community college to an elite private university, then withdrew for reasons I can’t get into here. (They had nothing to do with academic preparation,
