An op-ed by Gabriella Ronquillo, Bard High School Early College Manhattan ‘26

Why am I here? Like millions of U.S. high school students, this was a question that I considered as I was applying to high school. Lively debates in the media about what schools should teach, policy reform, and how to increase graduation rates all danced around this question: what purpose should school serve? Now, higher education faces attack by our federal government, effectively deciding for the nation the purpose and outcomes of being educated in the U.S. Amidst this crisis, one part of the decisionmaking process is missing: the students. With the future of U.S. education uncertain as ever, how will the system help students answer: Why are we here?    

As a freshman 3 years ago at Bard Early College’s Manhattan campus, I found the solution to my educational woes. Bard Early College is a nation-wide program that allows high schoolers to earn their Associate of Arts degree by taking 2 years of college classes in place of traditional 11th and 12th grade. A new path was laid out before me: I could pass my high school level classes, fulfill credit requirements to graduate high school with 60 Bard College credits and an Associate’s degree, and go on to finish my Bachelor’s degree in 2 years. For what purpose? To leave high school and enter college with a sense of advancement.

Bard takes it a step further, though. The Bard Early College motto is “a place to think.” Now, as a senior at Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Manhattan, I am left with something that cannot be erased nor punished: a neverending stream of consciousness. My thoughts from one class spread and intertwined with another, morphing into lessons and values guiding me even after my semester ended. As the city landscape transforms before me on my commute from Manhattan to my home in the Bronx, I was reminded of tensions I explored between the fetishist and Islamic empires in Segu from a class titled, “Literature of the African Slave Trades.” And as I watched the news of university budget cuts, I was reminded of a heated discussion in my First Year Seminar course about whether our federal government fit Plato’s description of oligarchy.     

Class discussion became a source of inspiration for the change I wanted to make in my community. The persistence required to understand and consequently access the worlds of Rousseau or Plato at the college level gave me the drive to support my own community by raising awareness about food insecurity policy. At an early college, students are not just learning how in theory to make change, but acting on it.

As a child of immigrant parents unfamiliar with higher education in the U.S., BHSEC Manhattan also offers the privilege of connecting with my teachers and seeing how their personal curiosity has developed into the pursuit of their education and achievement, as they mainly have doctorates in their fields of interests. Last fall semester I took a college course called Radical Reading: Civil Conflict in West/Central Africa, inspired by my professor’s Cameroonian heritage and upbringing. Last spring, I took the class Grammar and Rhetoric about pedagogy and theories of how people learn, taught by the director of Bard’s tutoring program who is passionate about students’ academic success. These experiences completely changed my outlook on what higher education means; instead of a linear path to a future career, my teachers have shown me that education is about pursuing your passions and letting them grow.

The early college experience fosters a genuine love of learning, and should not just be a privilege for the select few, but a necessity in our educational landscape. New York State has recognized this need, with Governor Kathy Hochul introducing for the first time this year the “College-in-High-School Opportunity Fund,” increasing funding for existing early college and dual enrollment high school programs. Investments like these are crucial for the Bard Early Colleges Network, particularly the newly installed Bard High School Early Colleges Bronx and Brooklyn.

Early college tackles the education inequities that make students question, “why are we here?” By earning an Associate’s degree taking classes we are interested in, we are given the opportunity to define what education means to us. In the U.S., many students don’t have the chance to determine their education. 17 states have classroom censorship policies. This reality is becoming far too common in public schools that face the risk of facing federal budget cuts for teaching about race, gender, sex, or politics. In spite of these structural barriers, early college transforms school into a crucial part of students creating the future they want to see by furthering their education. Looking back at my Bard experience, I wonder if it was a spark that was always within me. What is certain is that without a Bard education, it wouldn’t have been lit, demonstrated by how 83% of BHSEC alumni earn their Bachelor’s degree within six years, compared to the nationwide rate of 62%. After all, early college doesn’t just improve the education system— one could argue it is the very guardrail protecting it.