I Really Wasn’t Ready: Expectations and Dilemmas of a University Student in an Access Access Program

Abstract

Using a life story approach, I discuss the experiences and actions of Ewart, one of eighteen university recruits into an access program, to understand the ways in which the university, and the access program specifically, was accommodative of his needs, interests, expectations and aspirations. Critical Race Theory provided the framework to understand how educational institutions" liberal notions of merit, equality of opportunity and democracy, on one hand, made access to university possible for Ewart, and on the other, circumscribed his opportunities, possibilities and interests even as he tried to maintain his hopeful optimism.