Rakim Brooks '09
| View Video |
Rhodes Scholar and Tatemichi National Scholarship recipient shares his thoughts on…
…learning from his “boldly Brown” grandmother
Like a lot of Brown students, I had a really interesting upbringing. Weekdays, I lived with my grandmother because my mother worked long hours for a long time. My mother lived in an apartment in the Bronx; my grandmother, who lived in Manhattan, was closer to my school. She and my mother formed sort of a dynamic duo because my mother was the one who provided most of our income, while my grandmother provided the intellectual and spiritual nourishment that all children require.
You talk about robust intellectuals, boldly Brown. My grandmother was boldly Brown. She nurtured me and took care of me in ways that seem unimaginable to me now. For most of her life she was chronically ill; she had had cancer twice and was legally blind by the time I was born. But she was the most extraordinary woman I have ever known: She’d cook a hot meal for me every night, keep up with world events, and remember details about every one of her many books.
…finding a place to grow
Lacking money to visit schools, I bought the Fiske Guide to Colleges and read the entire book, trying to figure out where I would fit in best. The day my acceptance letter and financial aid package arrived from Brown, I grabbed it out of the mailbox and ran up the ten flights of stairs. I was relieved to be able to base my decision on where I thought I could grow and develop, rather than on what my family could afford.
…maintaining a difficult ideal
Brown’s unique university-college model is one of its particular strengths. Having served on the task force on undergraduate education, I now understand just how difficult this model is to maintain. There is real tension there for faculty, who have to be world class researchers and world class teachers. But for students, the university-college model provides an encouraging and enriching environment. I have engaged with some of the best and brightest thinkers our nation and this world has to offer: A whole community of incredible minds. Brown is fully committed to the development of its students…intellectually, spiritually, emotionally. I feel truly blessed to have been at Brown.
…winning a Rhodes Scholarship
Brown had already created a high “ceiling” for achievement; the Rhodes Scholarship raises that ceiling dramatically. Now I need to honor the commitments people have made to me by doing great things on behalf of others. Just being given an opportunity to think about progressive welfare reform or transportation issues or what environmentalism is going to look like in the 21st century—that’s extraordinary!
None of this would have been possible without the generous support of the Tatemichi National Scholarship. It provided for me when I didn’t have the means, and it enabled me to participate in an amazing educational community. I will be forever grateful.
Rakim has received a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, served on the University Task Force on Undergraduate Education, tutored juvenile inmates at the state training school, and interned at both the Brookings Institution and the Center for Law and Social Policy. Next fall, he will pursue a graduate degree in comparative social policy at Oxford.
