Episode 107: Interview with Carmen Daniel

In this episode, I chat with Carmen Daniel, the Owner and Founder of Dare 2 Dream: College & Career Consulting in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Carmen is a third-generation teen mom and first-generation college graduate. She believes that in order to break the generational curses and a perceived deficit thinking plaguing underrepresented students and communities, that educational policies, leadership, and financing, must be free of systemic racism and oppression. As a graduate of the Cleveland Heights - University Heights School District, Carmen took extreme pride in giving back to the community that helped to shape her educational blueprint. Her research interests include: critical race theory, college access and persistence among Black students, urban education leadership, and college persistence for Black teen mothers and fathers. Specifically, she is interested in the ways within-school segregation policies influence Black student motivations for pursuing a postsecondary degree.

During our conversation, we asked an important question - are we amplifying student voices or simply masking our own. All too often we push students into postsecondary decisions without considering their aspirations. We talked about taking the time to listen to students’ stories and helping those experiences determine the pathways that students will take in life. We explored the concept of imposter syndrome and how generational educational trauma impacts our perceptions of school and the choices made beyond primary and secondary school. And we even took some time to dream about what school could be if we adopted the scheduling models of higher education in our lower levels.