October 20, 2009
Interview with Charles Brown.
Graduating from BMCC with a 3.69 GPA in 2006, Dean’s List student Charles Brown was in a position to write his own ticket. His initial plan was to continue his studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Then the teaching bug bit him.
“I’d worked in various youth programs at a YMCA Teen Center, where I coached sports, taught study skills and helped chaperone day trips,” he says. “So I took a job as a gym teacher at P.S. 41, where I had a chance to assist other teachers in the classroom and help with grading papers and lesson planning. I realized this was what I wanted to do with my life.”
On track to succeed
Associates degree in hand, Brown, who had played basketball at BMCC, began looking at senior colleges with strong education curricula and varsity hoop teams. One that fit the bill was City College, where he is now in his first semester. His plan is to major in History with a minor in Education, earn a Masters degree and eventually teach in high school.
Brown is quick to acknowledge that there are other fields he could enter that would be far more lucrative than teaching. But none, he says, would be as satisfying.
“A lot of students, especially in the black and Hispanic communities, simply feel left out—that the teachers don’t care about them and that there’s no point to staying in school,” he says. “Many lack suitable role models and wind up falling through the cracks. So it’s extremely rewarding to be able to get through a child—to help them feel they’re important.” Brown himself serves as a real-life role model—a Brooklyn-born neighbor who is succeeding as a scholar, educator and athlete. “I want kids to look at me and think, “he’s from the ghetto—and if he can do it, I can do it.”
The pain of wasted time
But he knows that apathy and boredom are powerful forces. “I always tell kids, the best way to get out of school is to finish school,” Brown says. “If you drop out and hope to make something of yourself, you’re eventually going to have to go back—only you’ll have wasted valuable time.” In some ways, he says, “I feel I wasted a lot of years too—I’m 25 and should have been moving on to senior college when I was 21. So it hurts me to see kids in their teens wasting the next 15 years of their lives.”
When high school students talk about quitting school to pursue careers in sports or entertainment, Brown reminds them of the 2003 motorcycle accident that effectively ended the career of basketball star Jay Williams. “Before signing with the Bulls, Williams had earned a degree from Duke University, and that made all the difference, since he was able to continue working and build a career in other fields,” Brown says. “The point is, education comes first. And once you earn your degree, no one can take it from you. You may get hurt, but you still have your brain.”
