A Completely Different World
Thanks to Netflix, the incomparable hit television series, A Different World, has found its way back onto the TV screens of overjoyed viewers all over the United States! The show is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show that takes place at a fictional Historical Black College called 'Hillman College' in the State of Virginia, of which was inspired by Hampton University. It was within this cast of a diverse group of college students that the show's viewers were given six seasons of comedy, inspiration, tears, hope - and most of all - the truth about young black adults pursuing higher education. This show became known for its brave approach regarding sensitive subjects such as racism, domestic violence, and date rape - just to name a few.
Once I'd overindulged in almost every episode of every season, I not only was able to relive when I was a young girl squatting in front of my parent's television laughing at how comically refreshing each character was, but I was also able to better reflect on what A Different World taught me now that I was watching as an adult who is currently pursuing higher education. So naturally, I felt the need to post about six lessons we can all learn from this groundbreaking show!
1. Graduation Is The Goal
When the first season of A Different World premiered, the characters pictured above (from left to right) - Jaleesa, Freddie, Kim, Ron, Dwayne, and Whitley - were all students at Hillman College. By the time the last season aired in 1993, they all were graduates, employed, and giving back to the College they all received their professional degrees from! Most importantly, the show did not shy away from the realities that college students face everyday when trying to graduate. Instead, the story-lines shed light on them! From financial crisis to racial climates; it was confronted and conquered!
Today, the number of black students enrolling in higher education institutions is at an all-time high! But nationwide the black student college graduation rate is low, at a level of about 45 percent. While there are some campuses where the racial gap in graduation rates are narrow and there's only a two to three percent difference, there are other campuses where black graduates are trailing behind with a difference of about 30 percent compared to white students.
We should continue to encourage one another to apply to colleges, but we must begin to seriously campaign for the completion of college as well!
2. Companionship > Competition
As popular as this show was, the writers could have used the platform for evil like so many writers do today. Kim, Whitley, and Freddie (pictured above) could have been catty, insecure, and hateful women who had nothing else better to do other than create drama within their circle of friends and throw alcoholic beverages at one another from across the dinner table. However, these three women were not only good friends to one another - but they were driven, sophisticated, and so comfortable in their own skin that they had a heart full of love and support for one another rather than a heart full of envy and hate.
There was no reality TV star that they allowed themselves to aspire to be like, it was only the vision they had of their better selves - and that is the vision so many of us need to grab ahold of today.
3. Don't Judge The Book By Its Cover
Lena and Gina were the diamonds in the rough that could have been judged as "the angry black woman" at first sight. Their oh-no-you-didn't personalities were only a portion of what made them notably strong students. Lena made the personal choice to change what she knew to be her fate - which was barely graduate from high school and never step foot on a college campus, like a lot of her hometown friends. And Gina? She was the chatterbox that spoke fluently in French and was very popular when Finals week came around!
They showed me and the thousands of people watching that it's never about where you come from, but all about where you're determined to go.
4. Wise Council Is Cool
Oh, Mr. Gaines! He wasn't just the old man who managed Hillman College's campus cafe, but rather became a grandfather figure to the students that he watched grow from freshman into young professionals! From the jokes to the lectures, the students of Hillman were always willing to gleam from the wisdom Mr. Gaines provided in his distinctive way.
Somehow along the way we've lost that appreciation for wise council. We're now okay with the blind leading the blind - I mean the young leading the young (same thing if you ask me), which could explain why so many of us have lost our way with so little hope of receiving guidance to find our way back!
5. Real Bro's Have Goals
Dwayne and Ron had the ultimate bromance! They did everything together from chasing girls, to pledging, to being arrested for fighting after their car was racially vandalized. But most importantly, these two evolved together. They both had individual goals that they held each other accountable to achieve. Dwayne and Ron knew that the best way to fight against the stereotypes laid before them was to invest in themselves, and invest in their education... Together.
6. Abstinence Is Attractive
Dorian Heywood was the heartthrob on campus, and oddly enough the only one not having sex! He had no shame in voicing his belief in saving sex for marriage and that made him even more desirable. It was a good look to have a character like him respect his body and his religion so much while simultaneously giving him a social life young boys would love to experience in college some day!
Needless to say, there are no shows on TV like this one any longer. Our youth will only remember reality TV as entertainment and that breaks my heart. Where are the creative writers like Bill Cosby and Debbie Allen? Where are the television networks looking to air a modern-day version of this show? Are there any? I must say, thinking back on a time where education, sophistication, unity, and truth was promoted.. We certainly are living in a completely different world.
