Hello everyone,
I am struggling to understand what it means to be disadvantaged. It seems by definition I qualify, but I don't feel like I am, and I am certainly better off than many other people.
My parents moved to the US when I was three, and started off with whatever minimum wage jobs that they could find. Both of my parents were college educated in the STEM fields, but those degrees were not applicable. At certain points we received food stamps and medicaid. Most of my childhood was spent in Newark, NJ, where we were a minority in the community. The goals of the students and schools seemed to be just to pass high school, and most kids did not care about working for more than a passing grade. There were certainly plenty of teachers who cared about me and wanted everyone to do better, but the bar seemed low. I managed to get into a good magnet public high school in Newark called science high school where the student body seemed more optimistic and college bound, but the schools financial resources were poor. The school building was a converted factory and we went to the local YMWCA for gym class. Our books and equipment were outdated but seemed adequate for our needs. During my youth, my parents went back to school to get better and relevant degrees, but eventually went through a divorce. When I was 16, my mother, brother and I moved to a middle class neighborhood and I attended a significantly better high school for my senior year. It was a bit of a culture shock in that all of the students aimed significantly higher for their futures, and were definitely more confident. If anything I feel lucky that my parents were able to push themselves out of poverty and raise me to work hard for what I desire and take my education seriously.
It is very hard for me to define exact instances of being worse of than my peers now, and I don't want to write anything negative. After high school I went to a good school, I did well and now I certainly don't feel disadvantaged. I feel a bit envious of my peers for some of the things they had as children, like having an allowance and going to arcades, but I don't feel like I was put into a huge disadvantage.
So is it worth it for me to try and answer this question or should I say no and not worry about it?
I am struggling to understand what it means to be disadvantaged. It seems by definition I qualify, but I don't feel like I am, and I am certainly better off than many other people.
My parents moved to the US when I was three, and started off with whatever minimum wage jobs that they could find. Both of my parents were college educated in the STEM fields, but those degrees were not applicable. At certain points we received food stamps and medicaid. Most of my childhood was spent in Newark, NJ, where we were a minority in the community. The goals of the students and schools seemed to be just to pass high school, and most kids did not care about working for more than a passing grade. There were certainly plenty of teachers who cared about me and wanted everyone to do better, but the bar seemed low. I managed to get into a good magnet public high school in Newark called science high school where the student body seemed more optimistic and college bound, but the schools financial resources were poor. The school building was a converted factory and we went to the local YMWCA for gym class. Our books and equipment were outdated but seemed adequate for our needs. During my youth, my parents went back to school to get better and relevant degrees, but eventually went through a divorce. When I was 16, my mother, brother and I moved to a middle class neighborhood and I attended a significantly better high school for my senior year. It was a bit of a culture shock in that all of the students aimed significantly higher for their futures, and were definitely more confident. If anything I feel lucky that my parents were able to push themselves out of poverty and raise me to work hard for what I desire and take my education seriously.
It is very hard for me to define exact instances of being worse of than my peers now, and I don't want to write anything negative. After high school I went to a good school, I did well and now I certainly don't feel disadvantaged. I feel a bit envious of my peers for some of the things they had as children, like having an allowance and going to arcades, but I don't feel like I was put into a huge disadvantage.
So is it worth it for me to try and answer this question or should I say no and not worry about it?
