Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty

by Beth Zasloff, Joshua Steckel

Overview

An “invaluable” memoir by a counselor who left the elite private-school world to help poor and working-class kids get into college (Washington Monthly).
 
Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel Award
 
Joshua Steckel left an elite Manhattan school to serve as the first-ever college guidance counselor at a Brooklyn public high school—and has helped hundreds of disadvantaged kids gain acceptance. But getting in is only one part of the drama. This riveting work of narrative nonfiction follows the lives of ten of Josh’s students as they navigate the vast, obstacle-ridden landscape of college in America, where students for whom the stakes of education are highest find unequal access and inadequate support.
 
Among the students we meet are Mike, who writes his essays from a homeless shelter and is torn between his longing to get away to an idyllic campus and his fear of leaving his family in desperate circumstances; Santiago, a talented, motivated, and undocumented student, who battles bureaucracy and low expectations as he seeks a life outside the low-wage world of manual labor; and Ashley, who pursues her ambition to become a doctor with almost superhuman drive—but then forges a path that challenges received wisdom about the value of an elite liberal arts education.
 
At a time when the idea of “college for all” is hotly debated, this book uncovers, in heartrending detail, the ways the American education system fails in its promise as a ladder to opportunity—yet provides hope in its portrayal of the intelligence, resilience, and everyday heroics of young people whose potential is too often ignored.
 
“A profound examination of the obstacles faced by low-income students . . . and the kinds of reforms needed to make higher education and the upward mobility it promises more accessible.” —Booklist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595589040
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	03/25/2014
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Beth Zasloff has taught writing at New York University, at Johns Hopkins University, and as a teaching artist in the New York City public schools. She
is the co-author, with Edgar M. Bronfman, of Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance and currently directs the Midtown Workmen's Circle School, a
progressive Jewish community. She has a BA in English from Yale Universityand an MA from the Johns Hopkins UniversityWriting Seminars. Joshua
Steckel is College Counselor at the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, a member of the New York City Outward Bound Schools network. He has been working as a teacher and a counselor in New York City public and private schools since 2000. He has an MSEd in school counseling from Hunter College, a BA in English from Duke University, and an MA in English from Johns Hopkins University. Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel are married and live with their three children in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Authors' Note xi

1 Riding Backward: Nkese and Dwight 1

2 With Whom Do You Make Your Permanent Home? Mike and Abby 45

3 Take the Brooklyn Out of You: Nkese and Dwight 69

4 Someone to Step Up and Pave the Way: Ashley 84

5 Away from the Madness: Mike and Abby 105

6 Do You Know What It's Like to Live My Life? Kennetta, Angie, and Rafael 128

7 Finding the Best Fit: Ashley 157

8 Forward Movement: Nkese and Dwight 178

9 Room to Grow: Mike and Abby 194

10 Undocumented American Dream: Aicha and Santiago 209

11 Let's Change Lives: Kennetta, Angie, and Rafael 236

12 The Will to Aspire: Aicha and Santiago 262

Conclusion: College Material 293

A Note to My Students 299

Acknowledgments 300

Notes 303

Editorial Reviews

12/23/2013
Steckel was a college counselor at an Upper East Side private school, but left that plum job to make a difference by helping kids at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum get access to college. Writing with Zasloff (his wife and coauthor of Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance), Steckel looks at the lives of 10 students he's helped get to college since he joined the staff of the Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies in 2009. Some students have been harassed by both cops and gang members, have spent their lives in and out of homeless shelters, and have gone to bed hungry on more than one occasion. Coupled with administrative indifference and intimidating applications, it's not surprising to learn why some students opted for the path of least resistance. Still, there are bright spots: some students are inspired to change, while others find themselves thriving beyond their imagination in their new academic environment. The book's main problem is that the profiles come across as a retelling of the Great White Hope striding into the ghetto to save minorities. Less cynical readers will find this to be a probing, inspiring, and well-rounded account. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Josh Steckel is one of those unsung heroes of American education."
—Richard Stopol, president, New York City Outward Bound Schools

From the Publisher

2014-02-19
Inspiring account of what it takes to overcome class and ethnic barriers to gain acceptance to college. In 2006, Steckel was recruited to a new Brooklyn high school (the Secondary School for Research) from the college admissions program of a private Upper East Side school. He and his wife, Zasloff (co-author: Hope, Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance, 2008), chronicle the pitfalls he faced as he helped the students navigate the college-admissions process and worked with his existing network of admissions officers and support programs to qualify candidates in innovative and unorthodox ways. The success stories built foundations for others in applying and dealing with the stereotyping, racism and unconscious bias the students encountered as they advanced toward their goals of college admission. Steckel helped the students develop the resources to present their personal stories successfully. They also had to keep their eyes on the prize as they endured brutal misfortunes—e.g., the fire that destroyed Mike's home and put him in a shelter or the gang beating that nearly killed Dwight. Steckel was with them the entire way, celebrating successes and helping them overcome heartbreaking setbacks and bureaucratic inflexibility. He helped the students find programs in which potential college candidates from disadvantaged communities could pre-qualify through competitive recruitment—e.g., Questbridge and Posse, which work with Ivy League schools. The author also worked with them to meet deadlines, be on time for interviews and raise funds through scholarships. Of the 42 members of Steckel's first graduating class, 41 entered college, and they qualified for $1.8 million in scholarships. The next year's class was 75 strong and ready for another new beginning. A powerful story of courage and hope that should inspire others to follow trailblazers like Steckel and his students.

Kirkus Reviews