What is I AM MDC?
Title
What is I AM MDC?
Creator
Michael Hidalgo
Date
10/01/2022
Text
My whole life I always wondered what I AM MDC meant. For as long as I can remember, I have naturally questioned and analyzed everything. Obviously not enough. It wouldn’t be until late in my life that I discovered the truth. Late is a concept relative to everyone’s experience, but I am only 18. As I weighed my higher education options as a senior in high school, I found myself realistically attending MDC and FIU, but that didn’t stop me from applying to schools like the University of Miami. Ultimately, I ended up here at Miami Dade College... reluctantly.
I AM MDC followed me everywhere. I AM MDC was at the grocery store, I would see it while I drove down Bird Road, and even at the beach. It didn’t matter if the car was luxurious or modest, I AM MDC would be slapped on its rear end. The ubiquitous phrase plagued my mind for 17 years. The truth was so unexpected that I did not blame myself for not knowing.
Before accepting the Honors College’s1 offer, I did my research. Prior to 2003, MDC was known as Miami Dade Community College. Despite the name change, most locals still see it as a community college. If you are at Miami Dade, it is probably because you could not get into Florida International University. That’s not my opinion, but it is that of Miami. I’ve learned to cancel out the noise whenever someone assumes I didn’t get into FIU or says I’m crazy for rejecting FIU. So, MDC is this horrible place, right? Nope! You can imagine my surprise on the morning of August 22nd when I drive into a parking lot replete with cars and among them an abundance of Italian, German, and Japanese luxury cars. Many of them prominently displayed “I AM MDC.” I AM MDC had been Miami Dade College’s parking decal for years. I honestly had no clue. In my defense the year and the word student are relatively small compared to the blaring I AM MDC.
No one in Miami really talks about Miami Dade College, I didn’t even know where it was. I was 17 years old the first time I passed by a campus, the Kendall campus, because I was on my way to intern at a Baptist hospital construction site in the middle of nowhere. In contrast, I would pass by FIU and UM all the time.
I had been on campus several times a few weeks prior to the start of this semester, and the design and architecture of the campus had spoken to my sensibilities as a civil engineering major. I was confused by certain design choices made at the Kendall campus. Everything was weird for a public community college.” A few weeks ago, I thought there was so much parking it would be impossible to ever reach near maximum capacity. It didn’t feel like a “community college. But back on August 22nd, many of the parking lots were packed. It took me approximately 20 minutes to find a spot. A series of questions spun through my head: Who are the people that own these cars? What do they do? How old are they? Why are they here?
Once again, I was intrigued. We live in a society where we’re told we must go to a good university to be successful. Yet here we are at a community college with material evidence in direct contradiction. From my personal experience, a college degree is not a measure of one’s success. Neither one of my parents earned a college degree and they are fine. So, if you can afford this car, why are you at Miami Dade College? Shouldn’t you be at FIU? Even I fell victim to feeding into this label. I had no intention of exploring this topic to this degree, but my breaking point was when someone in a “Chalk” colored Porsche Panamera cut me off in the parking lot. For context, it’s a $100,000 car and the chalk color itself is a $3,270 option. It started because we had to both make a left turn. We were in streets parallel to each other, and I stopped at the stop sign first. He stopped, but past the stop sign into the street, and just stood there. I was in my mom’s car that day, and I could not let anything happen to it, so I waited for him to go first because I’d be dead if anything happened to that car. However, the pugnacious guy just waited as if I had nothing to do and I had to get home because I had an online class shortly. So, I turned left, and he did after. I thought that was the end of it, but no. Some 30 seconds later, he sped in front of me, forcefully sandwiched himself between the car stopped at the next stop sign and my mom’s black Volkswagen Atlas. He then proceeded to drive away. I thought that he would be gone from my life forever but minutes later there he was on 112th Avenue waiting for the light on 88th street beside me. His windows were down and he was blasting rap music. Instinctively, I thought maybe he was a famous rapper brought up by accessible social media platforms but that’s when I realized looks are deceptive. The Porsche was deceptive. Here, I had been judging people for doing the same thing as I had. For years I hadn’t realized I AM MDC was the decal to a former community college because the cars I had seen them on were too expensive for it to be logical. But I was the same. I wasn’t at FIU partly for financial reasons and not anywhere else in the country because of the expense. But I was still in a decent German car. Just because people are in these cars it doesn’t necessarily mean they can afford a more expensive tuition. I surely couldn’t have.
That was I AM MDC. We judge people that don’t fit our predetermined narrative. As a society, we look down upon community college. We can’t believe that success can occur here, but it can because “community college” (MDC is not technically a community college) is just as good as a university. An education from a community college isn’t a second-class education for the less fortunate. Therefore, the parking decals sheltered on luxury cars shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. MDC is the largest community college in the nation so it makes sense the decals are everywhere and here in Miami, we care about looks and optics. Miami is known for its cars. Miami is also known for its population of hard-working immigrants and to them, MDC is a way to climb up the social ladder. Maybe they’ve been working all their life but only recently decided to go to college. Or maybe daddy bought his daughter a Mercedes Benz as a graduation present. Regardless, I can’t imagine an MDC only lined with Toyotas and Hondas. Not in Miami. I AM MDC was a story of people taking advantage of opportunities while others were untenably judging. I can’t judge any longer.
1The Honors College is a program within Miami Dade College that focuses primarily on challenging and pushing students to transfer to prestigious universities.
I AM MDC followed me everywhere. I AM MDC was at the grocery store, I would see it while I drove down Bird Road, and even at the beach. It didn’t matter if the car was luxurious or modest, I AM MDC would be slapped on its rear end. The ubiquitous phrase plagued my mind for 17 years. The truth was so unexpected that I did not blame myself for not knowing.
Before accepting the Honors College’s1 offer, I did my research. Prior to 2003, MDC was known as Miami Dade Community College. Despite the name change, most locals still see it as a community college. If you are at Miami Dade, it is probably because you could not get into Florida International University. That’s not my opinion, but it is that of Miami. I’ve learned to cancel out the noise whenever someone assumes I didn’t get into FIU or says I’m crazy for rejecting FIU. So, MDC is this horrible place, right? Nope! You can imagine my surprise on the morning of August 22nd when I drive into a parking lot replete with cars and among them an abundance of Italian, German, and Japanese luxury cars. Many of them prominently displayed “I AM MDC.” I AM MDC had been Miami Dade College’s parking decal for years. I honestly had no clue. In my defense the year and the word student are relatively small compared to the blaring I AM MDC.
No one in Miami really talks about Miami Dade College, I didn’t even know where it was. I was 17 years old the first time I passed by a campus, the Kendall campus, because I was on my way to intern at a Baptist hospital construction site in the middle of nowhere. In contrast, I would pass by FIU and UM all the time.
I had been on campus several times a few weeks prior to the start of this semester, and the design and architecture of the campus had spoken to my sensibilities as a civil engineering major. I was confused by certain design choices made at the Kendall campus. Everything was weird for a public community college.” A few weeks ago, I thought there was so much parking it would be impossible to ever reach near maximum capacity. It didn’t feel like a “community college. But back on August 22nd, many of the parking lots were packed. It took me approximately 20 minutes to find a spot. A series of questions spun through my head: Who are the people that own these cars? What do they do? How old are they? Why are they here?
Once again, I was intrigued. We live in a society where we’re told we must go to a good university to be successful. Yet here we are at a community college with material evidence in direct contradiction. From my personal experience, a college degree is not a measure of one’s success. Neither one of my parents earned a college degree and they are fine. So, if you can afford this car, why are you at Miami Dade College? Shouldn’t you be at FIU? Even I fell victim to feeding into this label. I had no intention of exploring this topic to this degree, but my breaking point was when someone in a “Chalk” colored Porsche Panamera cut me off in the parking lot. For context, it’s a $100,000 car and the chalk color itself is a $3,270 option. It started because we had to both make a left turn. We were in streets parallel to each other, and I stopped at the stop sign first. He stopped, but past the stop sign into the street, and just stood there. I was in my mom’s car that day, and I could not let anything happen to it, so I waited for him to go first because I’d be dead if anything happened to that car. However, the pugnacious guy just waited as if I had nothing to do and I had to get home because I had an online class shortly. So, I turned left, and he did after. I thought that was the end of it, but no. Some 30 seconds later, he sped in front of me, forcefully sandwiched himself between the car stopped at the next stop sign and my mom’s black Volkswagen Atlas. He then proceeded to drive away. I thought that he would be gone from my life forever but minutes later there he was on 112th Avenue waiting for the light on 88th street beside me. His windows were down and he was blasting rap music. Instinctively, I thought maybe he was a famous rapper brought up by accessible social media platforms but that’s when I realized looks are deceptive. The Porsche was deceptive. Here, I had been judging people for doing the same thing as I had. For years I hadn’t realized I AM MDC was the decal to a former community college because the cars I had seen them on were too expensive for it to be logical. But I was the same. I wasn’t at FIU partly for financial reasons and not anywhere else in the country because of the expense. But I was still in a decent German car. Just because people are in these cars it doesn’t necessarily mean they can afford a more expensive tuition. I surely couldn’t have.
That was I AM MDC. We judge people that don’t fit our predetermined narrative. As a society, we look down upon community college. We can’t believe that success can occur here, but it can because “community college” (MDC is not technically a community college) is just as good as a university. An education from a community college isn’t a second-class education for the less fortunate. Therefore, the parking decals sheltered on luxury cars shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. MDC is the largest community college in the nation so it makes sense the decals are everywhere and here in Miami, we care about looks and optics. Miami is known for its cars. Miami is also known for its population of hard-working immigrants and to them, MDC is a way to climb up the social ladder. Maybe they’ve been working all their life but only recently decided to go to college. Or maybe daddy bought his daughter a Mercedes Benz as a graduation present. Regardless, I can’t imagine an MDC only lined with Toyotas and Hondas. Not in Miami. I AM MDC was a story of people taking advantage of opportunities while others were untenably judging. I can’t judge any longer.
1The Honors College is a program within Miami Dade College that focuses primarily on challenging and pushing students to transfer to prestigious universities.
Collection
Citation
Michael Hidalgo, “What is I AM MDC?,” Everything Speaks To Me , accessed September 18, 2026, https://everythingspeakstome.com/items/show/171.