"When I came to Putney from the Bronx, I was afraid I was going to freeze to death at night. It never occurred to me that the buildings had heat. New situations kind of bug me at first, you know?"

From grades 1-5 Naima went to public school in the Bronx. The education was less than stellar but there was a way out for Naima. De La Salle Academy, a school for academically talented, economically disadvantaged boys and girls in grades six through eight, offered her a slot. Life changed.

"When it was time to choose a high school, some of my classmates applied to very traditional schools. With the help of my teachers I chose Putney. When I got here, though, I felt like I might go into shock, and it wasn't all about the prospect of freezing. Vermont is one of the most Caucasian states in the nation. Because I was from the Bronx, most of the people I loved were black. My world had been so predominantly black that I had never even had to consider what 'black' meant in relation to 'white.'

"So everything at Putney seemed foreign. And because I'm a little phobic, things got worse before they got better. We went camping; I was afraid of the grass, trees, and bugs. We went water skiing. I feared water—and skis. Eventually, though, I made a few very good friends among the students of color. I made good friends throughout the student body. I stayed focused on getting a good education. And, generally, I've thrown myself into one scary situation after another for three years now. It's working out for me.

"In fact, ironically, the education at Putney has helped me better understand my African heritage. It started when, at an assembly, we saw the film, Mandela, about the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. I felt a shock of awareness. Those were my people! The struggle for equality is my struggle!

"Because of the history of slavery in this country I will never know what part of Africa I am from, who my ancestors are, what language I should be speaking, or what my life would have been like. I certainly can't afford a plane ticket to go to my actual homeland and find any of this out. At Putney, though, I belong to a group called the United Students, which is for students of color, and I know that it's not just me who has discovered the feeling of being part of a diaspora. I've gotten to study African dance here and, for me, it's a real joy—and so much more spiritual than physical. It just feels right. And I've had a remarkable English teacher who has assigned us books that aren't necessarily all examples of African American literature but are all, to some extent, about struggles and themes that are central to my life.

"Failing is easy to do where I come from. Succeeding is hard almost anywhere. At Putney, to learn what I want to learn I have to work very, very hard. I have been lucky; I've felt directly spoken to in some areas of study. But I have to put up a fight to understand advanced math because my brain is not built to understand advanced math. I have to wrestle with this 'hands-on' curriculum, because 'hands-on' is not necessarily the way I prefer to learn. I like to take my books back to my dorm and learn from them. That is exactly what I do because next year I'll be applying to UPenn. I want to be an investment banker some day. I want to make enough money to start a school that educates kids like me."