08 December 2008
Open Your Eyes
By Eldon Harmon
A successful young professional recalls a decisive moment in his life when College Summit showed him how to look for opportunities to move past secondary school graduation, on to college, and into a career.
Eldon Harmon is now a consultant at Deloitte LLP, one of the world’s leading professional services organizations, where he works in the Enterprise Risk Services practice. Harmon is also a volunteer at College Summit, working with young people in search of their future.
My mom was a single parent who wanted the best life for her sons, and she gave us all the love and support possible. There was a possibility that we could encounter violence and drugs around every corner, so raising two boys in East New York, a section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City, is no easy task. Her commitment to provide for us and protect us from our environment remains a very clear memory for me. She was a wonderful influence on us growing up, but when it came to planning what to do after high school, she had limited experience with the college application process.
In high school, my grades were average and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. With a ratio of about 500 students to every one college guidance counselor at my school, I wasn’t getting a lot of help in researching the options that might be open to me. Leading up to my senior year in 1997, I heard about College Summit, and I agreed to attend their summer writing workshop because it offered the opportunity to get out of my neighborhood in Brooklyn for a few days during the hot summer. And I wanted to see what the program was about, including what it would feel like to be on a college campus.
I arrived at Connecticut College, not knowing what to expect. The first night, we had a “rap session,” which was an opportunity for us to talk about the obstacles we saw standing in the way of getting into college. Many of the other kids were like me: They would be the first in their families to go to college. During the session, we really had to open up about what our hopes and fears were for the future and the challenges we had faced in the past.
Gathered together that first night of the workshop, what struck me most was our rap director’s telling us to open our eyes and see that we were actually privileged to be in a position to go to college. Generations of people before us couldn’t have dreamed of the opportunities that were within our reach. I had never thought of myself as privileged, but when the rap director explained it so clearly, I understood I had a responsibility to work hard and do my best.
My level of optimism about the future changed at that moment. After that night, my thinking changed dramatically. Before then, I mostly focused on just getting by or doing what needed to be done. After that night, I wanted to prove that I was above average, maybe even a leader. The possibility of going on to college and attaining a great career finally seemed more of a reality. It motivated me to get through the college application process and begin vigorously interviewing with various colleges.
Returning to high school for my senior year, I felt lucky to have a jump start on what I needed to do to get into college. I applied and was accepted to the Environmental Science and Forestry program at the State University of New York for my undergraduate degree. I went on to pursue a master’s degree in telecommunications management at Syracuse University.
At first, college was difficult. I felt academically behind and at times thought about giving up. My plan was just to study hard to catch up, but I quickly learned there was more to success than working on my own. I needed to get involved and become a part of the academic community, join study groups and other clubs so I could learn from others to improve myself. That is a lesson that has stayed with me till this day.
Now I work at Deloitte as a consultant who helps large organizations deal with security risks, and it’s a huge coincidence that the company I joined -- Deloitte -- provides monetary and pro bono services to College Summit. Its employees are encouraged to contribute their skills as well. I had been with the company for only a few months when I learned this, and the knowledge of its relationship with the organization that helped me so many years earlier solidified that Deloitte was the right place for me. The relationship between the two organizations is so strong that Deloitte is College Summit’s largest source of corporate volunteers. Last summer I volunteered as a counselor at a College Summit workshop and worked one-on-one with 14 students.
As the students walked through the door, I thought back to my own experience of having no idea where I wanted to go, and no clue on why I should put in the effort. I challenged those kids as someone had challenged me. I asked them to open their eyes, to dream big about what they could do if anything in the world was possible. These big-idea conversations helped us identify what was important to them and their futures so we could work together to find the colleges that fit their needs.
Being a College Summit alumnus really helped me to relate to my students. Not only was I able to see a lot of myself in them, but I think they were able to see some of themselves in me, as they kept saying “if he could do it, so can we.” I hope that young people considering what to do after high school consider my story and know that opportunities are there and waiting if they just open themselves up and work hard to seize them.
