COM Outlook Winter 2021

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 23 First-Person Essays questions. They did not want to prove they could not complete the tasks being asked of them by asking for clarification or help, nor did they want to prove to their teacher that they deserved to be given up on by answering incorrectly. Many quit before trying and did not see the point of future education—an example of Merton’s self-fulfilling prophecy. The students felt trapped, untrusted, exposed, worthless, and often compared their situa- tion to prison. It was not prison, but it was not the same experience I had several miles down the road. The only explanation I could make then was systemic racism. That was the first time I blatantly saw racial injustice. We were in the same school district and same town. The only difference was the year the school was built and the demographics. The school’s population was about 74 percent Black, 18 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent White, while my previous school’s popula- tion was approximately 17 percent Black, 31 percent Hispanic, and 46 percent White. Looking back, I can see other intersec- tions, such as socioeconomic status, social capital, and family, but race cannot be ignored. To this day, minority individuals are stuck in low educational tracks in high school, have a lower chance of attaining a degree in higher education, and continue to be underrepresented in medical schools and other graduate degree programs. Although other barriers contribute to this injustice, education is a fundamental piece of the problem. Students do not thrive when they are already given up on. In the words of former Association of American Medical Colleges chief diversity officer Marc Nivet, “Talent is universal, but opportunity is not.” This needs to change. Kristina Fritz-Tribble is a second-year KPCOM student. REFERENCES Merton, R. (1948). The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. The Antioch Review , 8(2), 193–210. doi:10.2307/4609267. Polo Park Middle School Profile (2020): Lake Worth, Florida. Public School Review. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from publicschoolreview.com/polo-park-middle-school-profile . Bear Lakes Middle School Profile (2020): West Palm Beach, Florida. Public School Review. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from publicschoolreview.com/bear-lakes-middle-school-profile . Laurencin, C.T., and Murray, M. (2017). An American Crisis: The Lack of Black Men in Medicine. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities , 4, 317-321. doi.org/10.1007/s40615-017-0380-y .