Three Miles - This American Life (Pt. 1)

This blog post covers part one of the This American Life episode "Three Miles."

American public schools are more segregated today than they were a generation ago. The poorest congressional district in the country is the South Bronx, home to two very different schools separated by just three miles.

The first is University Heights High School, a public school. It is 97 percent black and Hispanic. The second is Fieldston, an elite private school. It is 70 percent white. The school boasts an 18-acre campus, complete with a pool, dance studio and art gallery. This explains the $43,000 tuition.

Students from University Heights started a pen pal program with Fieldston. One day, students from the the high school visited Fieldston and were overwhelmed.

This experience was an experiment in the concept of exposure. It's been said that seeing how the other half lives makes someone more likely to try to achieve that success. It's been 10 years since the University Heights students visited the private school. How did this experience change their life path?

The reporter is especially interested in one student in particular. Her name is Melanie and she had a powerful reaction when she stepped foot on the Fieldston campus. Melanie started to cry.

She had a strong reaction because that is what she always thought high school was supposed to look like, not a run-down school in the middle of the city. She was described by her teachers and peers as an overachiever and a bright girl. Melanie realized that she was not like these students, and that her high school was not adequately preparing her for the future.

Melanie was up for a very competitive scholarship, which takes students who go to high schools like hers, and gives them a full scholarship to an elite college. After passing many rounds of the application, she became a finalist. In the end, she did not get picked, and was so distraught, she decided not to pursue any college. Melanie believes that if she did get that scholarship, her life would be different.

Part two of this story explores what life for Melanie would be like, had she gone to college.