My High School Experience in a Nut Shell
I live in a pretty wealthy middle to upper class area. My elementary school had mostly white kids with money, who were not worried about anything. When I got to high school, I decided to go to Martin for the academy baseball program. The school is inner city school that has kids from many different socioeconomic statuses. You had everything from the rich to the poor. This is where I realized how privileged I really am. I got driven to school everyday. It did not matter if it was-30 outside, I had a ride. I didn’t have to worry about food. There has always been more food than I can eat at my house. Last but not least I had more clothes than I ever needed, and could have a different outfit everyday. This leads to my story about my experience knowing my privilege of being a middle upper-class family.
I saw many kids who wore the same clothes everyday, I was shocked by this. It was the first time I have ever seen this coming from my life. I went home to talk to my mom about it, and she began to tear up. She as well couldn’t believe that kids, still to this day, are wearing the same clothes everyday. For me, it was a true eye-opening experience. This is where I learned about poverty first hand. I felt guilty showing up in my parents’ expensive cars, my expensive clothes and being a part of the academy. You see, at Martin, non academy kids do not usually hang out with the academy kids. This creates a divide within the school. It also gives kids like me a bad reputation because I seem “too cool for the other kids”. Also, academy kids only have classes with academy kids, with only of non academy kids. This makes the gap even wider in school division.
This is a big reason why I decided to become a teacher. If I could give back what I have been taught and help out families that are living in poverty my life goal would be complete. This is just one of the many reasons society today isn’t perfect; however, if you asked 100 people at Martin to define the school atmosphere, you would get many different answers that would totally view their socioeconomic status. The problems continue to lie on the big picture, people only care about popularity, and not about treating people with respect. For me, my high school experience was good; however, if I was to ask the non academy kids, I guarantee you I will get much different responses.
2 Comments
jdr198 · March 16, 2021 at 11:06 pm
Hey Riley, I can relate to your story as I grew up in a wealthy middle to upper class area as well. I also knew many kids from Martin whom would have said the same things as you. I was unaware that the academy and non academy students did not share the same classes, I can see how this could create a divide in the school. In your post you say “For me, my high school experience was good; however, if I was to ask the non academy kids, I guarantee you I will get much different responses”. I am just wondering what you meant by that? Do you think that they would have had a worse experience then you because they did not have all the privileges that the middle to upper class had? I think you made some greats points but I would have liked to see more explanation at the end. Take Care! Jenna.
Writing the Self Analysis – Trevor Price · March 31, 2021 at 8:38 am
[…] or listening to others you can learn how to interact with them. I compared my self story to Riley’s story. Riley talks about how he learned his status to be in the upper middle class. He came to this […]