Growing up in San Diego County, I have always known where I stood on the socioeconomic totem pole; somewhere hovering around middle class. Despite my mom being a single parent, and thus only bringing in one source of income, we owned property, lived in a safe neighborhood, and always had enough to eat. Now, I’m in college, with all the privileges that brings, such as knowing how to use a computer, being able to afford higher education, etc.. Being faced with the stark reality of dire poverty, as seen today at the Gary and Mary West Center, made me further understand just how much I had.
I noticed it first, when we walked in. Seeing homeless people does not startle me; I did volunteer work next to a park where many people without homes congregated -- some of them more stable (mentally and physically) than others. However, when walking in wearing nice tennis shoes, brand name jeans, and carrying a laptop, I noticed just how well off I am; and not just me, but my classmates who were wearing brands such as Nike, Adidas, Vineyard Vines, etc.. I’m not trying to say that we should not wear such things; but it forced me to take a second look at where I come from, who I’m surrounded with, and the larger community. I am not blind to the poverty and homelessness in San Diego (with high rents, expensive costs of living, etc), but normally, I note it, and continue with my business, whatever that may be. Today, well, facing the effects of being lower-income was my business.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed this. When we got back to campus, some of my classmates and I were discussing it over lunch. While my own background wasn’t being questioned, some of my peers were. For example, one man asked my classmate, “What do your parents do?”. When she responded stating, “My parents work at a hospital”, he replied making a comment about how he had to work on a farm his whole life and how lucky she was that her parents worked hard and she’s able to go to college. Hearing about him made me look again at my life and realize how fortunate I am. I’ve been lucky enough to never work a real manual labor job. While I did manual labor with animals, it was just volunteer work, and in exchange, I was given horseback riding lessons. All my other jobs have been sitting at a desk somewhere, handling people and paperwork, with the bulk of them either being administrative or mentoring. I’ve never had to do hours of repetitive, back-breaking work. Even though I do work while taking classes, I truly am one of the lucky ones.
I noticed it first, when we walked in. Seeing homeless people does not startle me; I did volunteer work next to a park where many people without homes congregated -- some of them more stable (mentally and physically) than others. However, when walking in wearing nice tennis shoes, brand name jeans, and carrying a laptop, I noticed just how well off I am; and not just me, but my classmates who were wearing brands such as Nike, Adidas, Vineyard Vines, etc.. I’m not trying to say that we should not wear such things; but it forced me to take a second look at where I come from, who I’m surrounded with, and the larger community. I am not blind to the poverty and homelessness in San Diego (with high rents, expensive costs of living, etc), but normally, I note it, and continue with my business, whatever that may be. Today, well, facing the effects of being lower-income was my business.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed this. When we got back to campus, some of my classmates and I were discussing it over lunch. While my own background wasn’t being questioned, some of my peers were. For example, one man asked my classmate, “What do your parents do?”. When she responded stating, “My parents work at a hospital”, he replied making a comment about how he had to work on a farm his whole life and how lucky she was that her parents worked hard and she’s able to go to college. Hearing about him made me look again at my life and realize how fortunate I am. I’ve been lucky enough to never work a real manual labor job. While I did manual labor with animals, it was just volunteer work, and in exchange, I was given horseback riding lessons. All my other jobs have been sitting at a desk somewhere, handling people and paperwork, with the bulk of them either being administrative or mentoring. I’ve never had to do hours of repetitive, back-breaking work. Even though I do work while taking classes, I truly am one of the lucky ones.