The boost students need to overcome obstacles | Anindya Kundu

Translator: Nadia Nurul Falah Reviewer: Rizaldi Iswandrata

So, I teach college students about inequality and race in education,

Jadi, saya mengajar mahasiswa tentang ketidaksetaraan dan ras dalam pendidikan

and I like to leave my office open to any of my students

dan saya senang membuka pintu kantor saya bagi mahasiswa

who might just want to see me to chat.

yang ingin bertemu sekadar untuk mengobrol.

And a few semesters ago,

Dan beberapa semester yang lalu,

one of my more cheerful students, Mahari,

salah satu mahasiswa saya yang ceria, Mahari,

actually came to see me

datang menemui saya

and mentioned that he was feeling a bit like an outcast because he's black.

dan mengatakan ia merasa sedikit seperti terasingkan karena ia berkulit hitam.

He had just transferred to NYU from a community college

Saat itu ia baru pindah ke NYU dari sebuah community college

on a merit scholarship,

melalui beasiswa akademik,

and turns out,

dan ternyata,

only about five percent of students at NYU are black.

hanya sekitar 5% dari mahasiswa di NYU adalah orang kulit hitam.

And so I started to remember

Dan akhirnya saya teringat

that I know that feeling of being an outsider

bahwa saya mengetahui perasaaan menjadi orang asing

in your own community.

di dalam komunitasmu sendiri.

It's partially what drew me to my work.

Dan jadi alasan saya dalam membuat karya ini.

At my university,

Di universitas,

I'm one of the few faculty members of color,

saya adalah satu dari sedikit pengajar "berwarna",

and growing up, I experienced my family's social mobility,

dan saat beranjak dewasa, saya mengalami mobilitas sosial keluarga,

moving out of apartments into a nice house,

keluar dari apartemen lalu ke sebuah rumah yang bagus,

but in an overwhelmingly white neighborhood.

namun di sebuah lingkungan dominan kulit putih.

I was 12,

Saat itu saya 12 tahun,

and kids would say that were surprised that I didn't smell like curry.

dan anak-anak berkata mereka terkejut karena saya tidak berbau kari.

(Laughter)

(Tawa)

That's because school is in the morning,

Itu karena sekolah dimulai pagi hari

and I had Eggo waffles for breakfast.

dan saya sarapan waffle Eggo.

(Laughter)

(Tawa)

Curry is for dinner.

Kari untuk makan malam.

(Laughter)

(Tawa)

So when Mahari was leaving,

Jadi, saat Mahari akan pergi

I asked him how he was coping with feeling isolated.

saya tanya bagaimana ia menghadapi perasaan terkucilkan.

And he said that despite feeling lonely,

Dan ia berkata, meskipun merasa kesepian,

he just threw himself at his work,

ia menyibukkan dirinya dengan pekerjaan,

that he built strategies around his grit

bahwa ia berstrategi di sela kegigihannya,

and his desire to be successful.

dan keinginannya untuk sukses.

A mentor of mine is actually Dr. Angela Duckworth,

Seorang mentor saya adalah Dr. Angela Duckworth,

the psychologist at UPenn who has defined this stick-to-itiveness of grit

seorang psikologis di UPenn yang mendefinisikan kegigihan dalam keuletan

as being "the perseverance and passion for long-term goals."

sebagai "kegigihan dan semangat untuk cita-cita jangka panjang."

Angela's book has become a bestseller,

Bukunya menjadi sangat laku,

and schools across the country,

dan seluruh sekolah Amerika,

particularly charter schools,

terutama sekolah-sekolah khusus,

have become interested in citing "grit" as a core value.

tertarik untuk mengutip "kegigihan" sebagai nilai utama.

But sometimes grit isn't enough,

Namu terkadang kegigihan tidak cukup,

especially in education.

khususnya dalam pendidikan.

So when Mahari was leaving my office,

Jadi, setelah Mahari pergi,

I worried that he might need something more specific

saya khawatir ia membutuhkan sesuatu yang lebih spesifik

to combat the challenges that he mentioned to me.

untuk melawan tantangan yang ia sebutkan.

As a sociologist, I also study achievement,

Sebagai seorang sosioligis, saya juga mempelajari kesuksesan,

but from a slightly different perspective.

namun dari pandangan yang sedikit berbeda.

I research students who have overcome immense obstacles

Saya menyelidiki mahasiswa yang telah melewati tantangan besar

related to their background.

yang terkait asal usul mereka.

Students from low-income,

Mahasiswa dari keluarga miskin,

often single-parent households,

seringkali berorang tua tunggal,

students who have been homeless, incarcerated or perhaps undocumented,

mahasiswa yang pernah menjadi tunawisma, dipenjara, atau mungkin tidak berdokumen,

or some who have struggled with substance abuse

atau beberapa yang berjuang melawan narkoba

or lived through violent or sexual trauma.

atau hidup melewati trauma atau kekerasan seksual.

So let me tell you about two of the grittiest people I've met.

Jadi, biar kuperkenalkan dua orang paling gigih yang saya kenal.

Tyrique was raised by a single mother,

Tyrique dibesarkan oleh ibu tunggal,

and then after high school, he fell in with the wrong crowd.

dan setelah SMA, ia bergabung dengan kelompok yang salah.

He got arrested for armed robbery.

Ia ditangkap karena pencopetan.

But in prison, he started to work hard.

Namun saat di penjara, ia mulai bekerja keras.

He took college credit courses,

Ia mengambil kredit mata kuliah,

so when he got out, he was able to get a master's,

jadi saat ia dibebaskan, dia bisa meraih gelar Magister,

and today he's a manager at a nonprofit.

dan saat ini menjabat manajer di sebuah NGO.

Vanessa had to move around a lot as a kid,

Vanessa sering pindah rumah saat kecil,

from the Lower East Side to Staten Island to the Bronx.

dari Lower East Side lalu ke Staten Island kemudian Bronx.

She was raised primarily by her extended family,

Ia dibesarkan oleh keluarga besarnya,

because her own mother had a heroin addiction.

karena ibunya adalah seorang pecandu heroin.

Yet at 15,

Pada usia 15 tahun,

Vanessa had to drop out of school,

Vanessa harus berhenti sekolah,

and she had a son of her own.

dan melahirkan putranya.

But eventually, she was able to go to community college,

Namun akhirnya, ia mampu melanjutkan ke community college,

get her associate's,

mendapat gelar kesetaraan,

then go to an elite college to finish her bachelor's.

kemudian melanjutkan ke universitas terkemuka untuk gelar Sarjana.

So some people might hear these stories and say,

Orang mungkin dengar cerita ini dan berkata,

"Yes, those two definitely have grit.

"Ya, jelas mereka memiliki kegigihan.

They basically pulled themselves up by the bootstraps."

mereka telah berjuang dengan amat sangat keras."

But that's an incomplete picture,

Namun itu adalah gambaran tidak sempurna,

because what's more important

karena yang lebih penting

is that they had factors in their lives that helped to influence their agency,

bahwa mereka memiliki faktor dalam hidup yang membantu mempengaruhi agen mereka

or their specific capacity

atau kemampuan khusus mereka

to actually overcome the obstacles that they were facing

untuk benar-benar melewati rintangan yang mereka hadapi

and navigate the system given their circumstances.

dan bergerak di dalam sistem yang menciptakan situasi mereka.

So, allow me to elaborate.

Jadi, biar saya uraikan.

In prison, Tyrique was actually aimless at first,

Di penjara, pada awalnya Tyrique tidak memiliki tujuan,

as a 22-year-old on Rikers Island.

sebagai pria 22 tahun di Rikers Island.

This is until an older detainee took him aside

Hingga seorang tahanan yang lebih tua menariknya

and asked him to help with the youth program.

dan meminta ia membantu program taruna.

And in mentoring youth,

Dan saat mentoring taruna,

he started to see his own mistakes and possibilities in the teens.

ia mulai menyadari kesalahannya dan kesempatan di masa remaja.

This is what got him interested in taking college-credit courses.

Hal itu yang membuatnya tertarik untuk mengambil kredit mata kuliah.

And when he got out,

Dan saat ia dibebaskan,

he got a job with Fortune Society,

ia mendapat pekerjaan di Fortune Society,

where many executives are people who have been formerly incarcerated.

di mana sebagian besar petingginya adalah orang-orang yang pernah dipenjara.

So then he was able to get a master's in social work,

Setelah itu ia meraih Magister di bidang pekerjaan sosial

and today, he even lectures at Columbia about prison reform.

bahkan saat ini ia mengajar reformasi penjara di universitas Columbia.

And Vanessa ...

Dan Vanessa ...

well, after the birth of her son,

setelah melahirkan putranya,

she happened to find a program called Vocational Foundation

ia menemukan sebuah program yang disebut "Vocational Foundation"

that gave her 20 dollars biweekly,

yang memberinya 20 dolar setiap dua minggu

a MetroCard

sebuah kartu Metro,

and her first experiences with a computer.

dan pengalaman pertamanya dengan komputer.

These simple resources are what helped her get her GED,

Sumber-sumber sederhana ini yang membantunya dapat diploma kesetaraan

but then she suffered from a very serious kidney failure,

namun kemudian ia menderita penyakit gagal ginjal yang parah,

which was particularly problematic because she was only born with one kidney.

yang mana problematis karena ia terlahir hanya dengan 1 ginjal.

She spent 10 years on dialysis waiting for a successful transplant.

Ia perlu 10 tahun melakukan dialisis menunggu transplantasi yang berhasil.

After that,

Setelah itu,

her mentors at community college had kept in touch with her,

dosennya di community college terus berhubungan dengannya,

and so she was able to go,

hingga ia mampu melanjutkannya,

and they put her in an honors program.

dan menempatkannya di program kehormatan.

And that's the pathway that allowed her to become accepted

Dan itulah jalan yang membuatnya diterima

to one of the most elite colleges for women in the country,

ke salah satu universitas elit untuk wanita di Amerika,

and she received her bachelor's at 36,

dan ia meraih gelar Sarjana di usia 36 tahun,

setting an incredible example for her young son.

memberikan contoh luar biasa untuk putranya yang belia.

What these stories primarily indicate is that teaching is social

Hal pokok dari cerita-cerita ini adalah bahwa mengajar adalah kegiatan sosial

and benefits from social scaffolding.

dan keuntungan dari rangka sosial.

There were factors pushing these two in one direction,

Ada faktor yang mendorog dua orang ini dalam satu arah,

but through tailored mentorship and opportunities,

namun melalui bimbingan dan kesempatan yang disesuaikan,

they were able to reflect on their circumstances

mereka mampu merefleksikan situasi mereka

and resist negative influences.

dan melawan pengaruh-pengaruh negatif.

They also learned simple skills like developing a network,

Mereka juga belajar keterampilan sederhana seperti membangun jaringan,

or asking for help --

atau meminta bantuan --

things many of us in this room can forget that we have needed from time to time,

hal yang sering kita lupa bahwa kita membutuhkannya dari waktu ke waktu

or can take for granted.

atau terima begitu saja

And when we think of people like this,

Dan melihat kisah mereka,

we should only think of them as exceptional, but not as exceptions.

kita seharusnya memikirkan mereka sebagai yang luar biasa, bukan pengecualian.

Thinking of them as exceptions absolves us

Memikirkan mereka sebagai pengecualian membebaskan kita

of the collective responsibility to help students in similar situations.

dari tanggung jawab bersama untuk membantu siswa di situasi yang sama.

When Presidents Bush, Obama and now even Trump,

Saat presiden Bush, Obama, dan bahkan saat ini Trump,

have called education "the civil rights issue of our time,"

menyebut pendidikan sebagai "masalah hak warga negara di masa kita"

perhaps we should treat it that way.

mengkin memang itu cara yang tepat.

If schools were able to think about the agency that their students have

Jika sekolah mampu memikirkan agen yang dimiliki siswa-siwanya

and bring to the table when they push them,

dan membawanya ke meja saat mereka menekannya,

what students learn can become more relevant to their lives,

yang mereka pelajari bisa lebih relevan dengan kehidupan mereka,

and then they can tap into those internal reservoirs of grit and character.

dan lalu mereka dapat membuka lubuk kegigihan dan karakter.

So this here --

Jadi, inilah --

My student Mahari

siswa saya Mahari

got accepted to law school with scholarships,

yang diterima di sekolah Hukum dengan beasiswa

and not to brag,

dan bukannya sombong,

but I did write one of his letters of recommendation.

tapi saya menulis surat rekomendasi untuknya.

(Laughter)

(Tawa)

And even though I know hard work is what got him this achievement,

Dan walau saya tahu kerja kerasnya yang memungkinkan pencapaiannya,

I've seen him find his voice along the way,

saya melihatnya ia menemukan suara hatinya

which as someone who's grown up a little bit shy and awkward,

setelah sebelumnya ia merupakan anak kecil yang pemalu dan canggung,

I know it takes time and support.

saya sadari hal itu butuh waktu dan dukungan.

So even though he will rely a lot on his grit

Meskipun ia akan bergantung banyak pada kegigihannya

to get him through that first-year law school grind,

untuk membantunya melewati tahun pertama di sekolah Hukum,

I'll be there as a mentor for him,

saya akan berada untuknya sebagai mentor,

check in with him from time to time,

mengeceknya dari waktu ke waktu,

maybe take him out to get some curry ...

mungkin mengajaknya makan kari ...

(Laughter)

(Tawa)

so that he can keep growing his agency to succeed even more.

sehingga ia bisa terus menumbuhkan agennya untuk meraih kesuksesan lebih.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.

(Applause)

(Tepuk tangan)