Privilege and Fortuity
I, a current student at UCSC in College 10, landed here almost entirely by privilege and support from my family and community members. However, I can’t deny that there were some hurdles I had to overcome along the way. The chain of events that led me to Santa Cruz were a long list of “almost didn’ts” along with difficult decisions and sacrifices.
I’m fortunate enough to be the only child of two very hardworking people who also happened to inherit a considerable amount of land. Both of my parents are white upper-middle class Americans. My mother is an accountant from a small coastal town called Point Arena. Along with working hard all her life, she inherited 576 acres of timber and farmland in her hometown. She also got a degree in economics from UCSC. My father is a mechanic and is from an hour north of Point Arena in a town known as Fort Bragg. He also worked very hard and inherited two properties in the redwoods. My parents sell some timber from my mother’ property every few years, which gives us a lot of extra money. My father also sold both of the properties in Fort Bragg, so we have been extremely fortunate to have so many luxuries. All of my parents’ combined income made it possible for me to come to a four-year college.
Along with financially supporting me, my parents were always there for me on an emotional level as well. My mom had gotten her bachelor’ degree after going straight from high school to UCSC, so she wanted me to have the same kind of experience. She gave me lots of advice on what college would be like, even before I knew I’d be attending UCSC. Even though my father had never gone to college, he also wanted me to go get a degree, especially because I had the means to do so while he didn’t when he was my age.
I attended a high school in Mendocino County that had about eighty kids in it. My class was one of the largest, holding twenty-two rowdy kids looking for trouble. We lived in the tiny town known as Potter Valley. Because I chose to go to this school, three minutes down the road from my house, rather than a more average-sized school half an hour away, I was shaped into a much stronger person. Small schools allow individuals to be well-rounded because of how many teams and activities there are to get involved in. By the time I had graduated from Potter Valley High School, I had been known as a three-sport athlete, student council member, 4-H teen leader and FFA vice president. I was also the valedictorian. However, PVHS came with its disadvantages as a small school: it was not very serious (academically) and there were no AP courses offered.
When the time came to start applying to colleges, I had to use being from a small school to my advantage. At the time, I thought for sure that I’d be going to Cal Poly to be a forester. UCSC didn’t have any majors I was currently interested in, so I figured there’d be no point in applying. Luckily, my parents, teachers, and peers all encouraged me to apply to as many as I thought I could handle, so I gave UCSC a shot.
Little did I know that I was in for a shock: Cal Poly rejected me and UCSC asked if I’d like to be waitlisted or not. At that point, I was so irritated that I just wanted to click “no.” I was especially irritated that Santa Cruz waitlisted me because UC Davis accepted me. Fortunately enough for me, I swallowed my pride and put myself on the waitlist. Not expecting to get in, I enrolled myself at UC Davis to major in animal science. A few weeks later, I finally got accepted into UCSC. My extracurricular activities really played an important role in helping me get accepted to the universities I applied to, since I had to compete against other kids who graduated from schools with more money than mine had. They had an advantage of having AP and Honors classes, as well as more activities and programs.
I felt extremely conflicted once I’d learned I’d gotten off the waitlist for Santa Cruz. I knew I wanted to go to UCSC more than I wanted to go to UC Davis, but I was extremely hesitant. I had already made a big commitment to go to Davis, and I knew that was where my parents wanted me to go. They wanted me to be the kind of person you would expect to see where I’m from: someone very into agriculture and small-town traditions. Deep down, I knew that wasn’t who I wanted to be. I didn’t want to turn down an opportunity like the one I would have in Santa Cruz. In the very few days I had to give UCSC my answer, I sought the advice of all my teachers. They all listened to what I had to say and gave me great advice. It was great to know I had so many sources of support looking out for me.
After waiting and waiting, I finally said yes to Santa Cruz. I was extremely privileged to have parents who are still married and have quite a bit of money as well as having my small-town community helping me out. I was lucky I had multiple colleges to choose from. However, is it fair that some people can afford a college education while others have to give up that dream because even with help from the government, they can’t afford to attend? In this way, colleges are keeping the people without large sums of money from being able to advance their careers and become successful. Is buying your way to the top the only way to become successful in this country? It’ difficult knowing how hard some people have to struggle in every-day life and work long hours with very little pay while other people have enough money to do practically whatever they want. Although I’m very thankful for what I’ve been blessed with (a strong, supportive family and college education) I hope to be able to work with others to find a way to balance the gap between the rich and those living in poverty.