Becoming 'Part of the Change'

"I wanted to be a part of the change." Aisha Johnson '20 plans to place opportunities and education into the reach of marginalized children.

Aisha Johnson ’20

Aisha Johnson ’20 had a business career in mind when she arrived at Dickinson, but a first-year seminar opened a new world to her, and she hasn’t looked back. Passionate about child welfare, education and educational access, she declared an educational-studies major and accepted an internship at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. She now plans a career working directly with children, and helping to place a better future within their reach.

Hometown:

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Major

Educational studies, with a minor in Chinese.

Clubs and organizations:  

First-year mentor, Multicultural Ambassadors special event coordinator, Seizing Every Opportunity (SEO Scholars), HUB supervisor, tour guide, Black Student Union, Prison Inmate Tutoring Club and service trip leader.

Honors/scholarships/awards:

Kappa Delta Pi, Founders Scholarship and Samuel G. Rose ’ 58 Scholarship.

Dickinson in one sentence:

Dickinson is a place for advocacy, community service, change, fantastic communication and passion.  

Favorite book:

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Favorite movie:

Mulan.

On choosing a major:

I actually entered Dickinson as an international business & management and economics major. Shortly into the semester, my interest changed when I debated educational policies in my first-year seminar. I researched topics such as the effect of student progress on teacher salary, educator retention rates, controversies about charter schools and equity vs. equality in America’s education system. I immediately fell in love with the field of education. I took educational studies courses during my third semester at Dickinson. I fell in love with the material and the professors and finally declared.

I decided to become an educational studies major because I was extremely disappointed with our system, and I knew I wanted to be a part of the change. I want to provide marginalized students with the opportunities, time and mentorship they deserve.

In a perfect world … 

… there would be no children living in poverty. Everyone would have equal healthcare, welfare and education.

Favorite place on campus:

The dance studio in the HUB.

As I kid, I wanted to be …

… a detective.

Favorite class:

Curriculum Theory. Similar to a lot of people, I did not know there are four different ideologies—learner-centered, scholar-academic, social reconstruction and social efficiency—implemented in the classroom. In the beginning of the course, I took a survey that determined I would be interested in teaching in a learner-centered and social-reconstruction way. However, after learning about all four ideologies, my initial interest changed completely. Now, I am an advocate for the social efficiency ideology.

Advice to first-year students:

Everyone should go on a service trip! It is a great way to give back to the community, meet more Dickinsonians and reflect.

About my internship:

I interned at the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) in Washington, D.C., as an education program and policy intern with the Beat the Odds (BTO) and Freedom School teams. [Associate] Professor [of Education] Sarah Bair introduced CDF to me. I loved how CDF is an all-child advocacy organization.

Before interning with CDF, I was very interested in having a career in educational policies and teaching, because I thought education was the key to solving America’s problems. However, the Children’s Defense Fund mission to end child poverty and to ensure every child has a healthy start, head start, fair start, safe start, and moral start helped me realize that when advocating for children’s rights, I cannot view the child in parts. I have to look at the child as a whole. I cannot separate issues that affect children equally. As a result, I stopped focusing solely on education. In addition, I realized that I did not want to work in policy. I want to work directly with students to see their growth and success.

During my time at CDF, I had a multitude of projects. I created a financial literacy workshop for BTO’s Create Ready for College Program. I created a financial-aid FAQ, financial-aid vocabulary worksheet, a budget worksheet and a college visit vocabulary worksheet. I also participated in a panel. One of my favorite projects was creating a new CDF intern recruitment list to build diversity and inclusion in the office. Lastly, I visited two freedom school sites and attended a school trip to a museum.

Overall, my experience was great! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who believes the future is children.

Post-Dickinson plans:

After I gradate, I hope to teach English in China, or join the College Advising Corps to help students like myself. I want to directly serve students in my community. I enjoy bringing knowledge and opportunity to students who, unfortunately, do not have privileges like others. In the future, I hope to continue my goal to become a principal, a mentor and a member of the school board in my district.

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Published September 19, 2018