Walki Arismé

College Jean

How a Haitian Teenager Got More Than an Education
After Moving to New York City

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College Jean is fictionalized autobiography.

Several sections of the book are based on the author's real home life, which was often deeply dysfunctional. However, the story deals mainly with what can be accomplished by ambitious teens and young adults who work hard — provided they also receive assistance and encouragement from their teachers and other influential adults. Major themes are the importance of combating racial prejudice and rising above other people's assumptions and their low expectations of Black teens.

Many of the most powerful parts of the story have to do with Jean's teenage friends. The sections about Lisa and the others emphasize the problems of parental neglect, poverty, and homelessness and how those contribute to truancy. The stories of how some of Jean’s friends overcame tremendous obstacles, and in what specific ways they succeeded in college and then in their chosen professions, have the ring of truth and are deeply moving.

The young protagonist of the book, Jean, a Haitian immigrant, leads by example and offers hope. He does his best to encourage his friends and to inform others of the impressive contributions of Haitians in history and the arts.

The copious details about the tremendous financial assistance offered by Scholars Fund are an important addition to the story. Most readers have probably never heard of this organization and how it can help college-bound students avoid the trap of college loans and the often decades-long burden of indebtedness. Thus many people will doubtlessly find the information here of great interest and value.

Description of the Cover for Blind and Visually Impaired Readers

By Leonore Dvorkin, editor

The hazy background, showing the wall of a building and a hallway (or perhaps an outdoor walkway), is in muted shades of brown, orange, gray, and white. To the left, with his back against the wall and facing right, is a handsome young Black male of perhaps 20, with short hair and a slight smile, looking happy and optimistic as he gazes off into the distance. He’s wearing a blue T-shirt and a black backpack and is holding two books. Down the right side of the cover, in black letters in a slender san serif font, are the main title at the top, the subtitle in the middle, and the author’s name at the bottom. On the back cover, the synopsis is in black letters on a pale blue background.

Purchasing Information

About the Author

Walki Arismé is a Haitian-born African American who emigrated from Haiti with his parents when he was 13 months old. He received his education at SDA Bilingual Union School (the first Haitian American school established in Brooklyn, New York), the Hebron French-Speaking Seventh Day Adventist Church of the Northeastern Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, and South Shore High School in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York. He studied psychology at New York University (NYU) and obtained his nursing degree from Regents College, now Excelsior University. Much of this book deals with his high school years.

Now blind and severely disabled, having suffered four amputations, he is unable to practice his former profession or hobbies with the exception of writing. That is his passion, whether he's writing books or blog posts.