Maya Angelou
...s time the schools were still segregated and the more privileged white students attended the neighboring school called Central. Angelou's school was described as so, "Unlike the white high school; Lafayette County Training School distinguished itself by having neither lawn, nor ledges, nor tennis court, nor climbing ivy. It's two buildings (main classrooms, the grade school and the home economics) were set on a dirt hill with no fence to limit either its boundaries or those of bordering farms” (Angelou, 34.) Lafayette was nowhere near the statute of Central, but the attendants of Lafayette still felt privileged to be granted an education and took it very seriously. Many of the graduates were saddened to leave Lafayette; they had enjoyed their familiar path and knew that the future was very important. Angelou said, "The future rode heavily on their shoulders, and blinded them to the collective joy that had pervaded the lives of the boys and girls in the grammar school graduation class" (Angelou, 35.) Although, education after was going to be a tough accomplishment, it couldn't damper this day for the children. As Angelou awoke on this day she was indeed in high spirits, “I hoped the memory of that morning would never leave me. Sunlight was itself young, and the day had none of the insistence maturity would bring it in a few hours" (Angelou, 37.) It seemed as though nothing could bring young Angelou down on this day, she also described how her hair had pleased her as it was now braided into a neat pattern. Her buttercup yellow dress had intricate detail all around, "My dress fitted perfectly and everyone said that I looked like a sunbeam in it" (Angelou, 38.) Angelou's family could not have been more pleased and they made many exceptions for her, "Momma made a Sunday breakfast although it was only Friday" (Angelou, 38.) While Angelou made her way to the ceremony she described an ill-fated feeling creeping over her, but upon arrival her assurance was revived when her fellow comrades appeared. Once their ceremony began they followed what had been rehearsed time and time again, but after finishing the pledge of allegiance Angelou knew something unrehearsed and unplanned was about to happen. The principle came up and said a few short words on friendship to the class, and then proceeded to introduce Mr. Edward Donleavy. Mr. Donleavy began by talking about all the great improvements going toward the white school Central. This made it very hard for Angelou to take, because it claimed that the white school was granted much more respect than Lafayette, "The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren't even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises" (Angelou, 41.) Angelou described his words falling like bricks around the auditorium, and the children all seemed to drop their heads, "Graduation, the hush-hush magic time of frills and gifts and congratulations and diplomas, was finished for me before my name was called" (Angelou, 41.) It seemed as though everything they had accomplished meant nothing and they would just end up being farmers and washerwomen and anything higher was nonsensical and pretentious, "It was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen t...