Black Woman Working In America Part 2

Life In America. Ever since I moved to America, I have constantly been in school. Enrolled in some type of academic program. There is this person that every time she saw me she would ask me, “ Nichole you are still in school???!!!!””. I would smile and tell her yes. And I move on. What I don’t say to her is “Yes I have to be in school so I can afford the life that you have been privileged to have”. Yes I am always trying to improve my credentials because even with 4 degrees I am still struggling so that I can live a comfortable lifestyle and be in a position to help my family. And yes I am pursuing degree number 5. Because I like the finer things in life and I want to be able to afford them legally. I am also an overachiever. Also whenever I am at a job, I have to “dumb” down myself so that my managers don’t  think I am trying to take their job and my fellow coworkers are always trying to compete with me. I  am black but I speak proper English ( how is that possible?), how do I afford to live by myself, how is it that I don’t live with my parents ( I am 39 and now divorced). They don’t believe me when I tell them my age. Why do I want to get another degree ( because I want to have my business one day so I don’t have to work with people like you who don’t think I deserve the things I have)and the list goes on. When I made the mistake of showing another coworker my pay stub, the coworker became upset. He informed the other coworkers that I got paid more than they did( because I had a degree) and they have been working for the same company for many years and they can’t understand why a black woman, gets paid more than they do, speaks proper English, does not live with her mom and dad, and works in their department ( because the majority of other Black people work in maintenance or work in the cafeteria). Life in America.

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