Giving Compass' Take:

• Hazim Hardeman shares his story about the opportunities that were afforded to him in order to make great academic accomplishments and his eventual path to Rhodes Scholar. 

• How do we foster a sense of inclusion and access for all students, even for the most vulnerable? How can educators understand harsher circumstances for some students and mitigate external barriers for them?

• Read about how to create equitable pathways for young people seeking access to postsecondary education.

Hazim Hardeman, a graduate of Community College of Philadelphia and Temple University, is the first student from these schools to win the Rhodes Scholarship. Based on a graduation speech by Hardeman at CCP on May 5, 2018, this op-ed has has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

I know that I’m here as a winner of the Rhodes Scholarship, but when I reflect on my story it’s much less about where I ended up than how I got there. So, while at the Community College of Philadelphia we talk about the path to possibilities. What I want us to consider is our path as a possibility.

 If I have done things that are extraordinary, it is not because I’m inherently special. Rather, it is a product of the opportunity I’ve been given.

That first opportunity came for me when my mother, understanding the urgency of transgressing against systems that weren’t designed for people like us to thrive, lied about our ZIP code so that my brother and I could attend a predominantly white, more resourced elementary school. There, I was shaped by a culture of investment. was able to grow and develop in an educational setting in which the student’s ability was assumed, not impugned. I was afforded the basic dignity of having the proper tools to allow learning to occur.

So as you take the next steps in your journey, I want you along the way to consider your path as possibility not only in your thought but in your actions — which means as you walk through doors, don’t close them behind you. Leave them open for the next person to walk through, and for the person after that to tear them down.

Read the full article about path of possibilities by Hazim Hardiman at The Hechinger Report