maysblog

Recently I received a scholarship and, like any college student, I was excited that I wouldn’t have to pay as much for my education. After I received the scholarship, I went to the sponsor’s website to learn a little bit more about them. I discovered that the purpose of the scholarship was to “help disadvantaged college students.” I have never thought of myself as disadvantaged. This led me to wonder who truly is disadvantaged.

On paper, the odds of me completing college are probably very low. I am the first person in my family to go to college, a minority, from a low-income family, and I’m from a small town. Statistically the transition into college should be overwhelming for me, but I’m actually doing quite well. Why is this? How can the vast amounts of data be wrong at times?

Humans are not numbers. In fact, most of us take pride in “not being another statistic” or beating the odds. I believe that most students from low-income families have an unfair advantage; they are highly motivated. A good example would be of my cousins. Both of my cousins are smart, but one is from a rich family, while the other isn’t. Usually having a higher income correlates with better grades, but in this case the opposite is true. My low-income cousin knows that his parents are working hard to pay for his tuition, and that they are counting on him to take care of them one day. The threat of failure makes him push harder and he receives high grades. My wealthy cousin, on the other hand, knows that his parents can take care of him if he doesn’t succeed. Also, he knows that he will one day inherit a small fortune, so receiving high grades isn’t very important to him.

First-generation college students also have an unfair advantage because they know the benefits of a college education. My parents never went to college, so growing up they always told me the problems they faced because they lacked degrees. They put in my mind that a college degree equates to success and a high paying job. One of my friends from high school was a mentor to sixth grade students. To help the students study for a test, he would ask them review questions and if they answered incorrectly, they had to do push-ups. I asked him if this was a reward-punishment technique to help them learn, but it wasn’t. He said that if they weren’t learning then they were going to become athletic because that is the only other way to help them into college. His parents didn’t go to college either, so he knew the value of a degree.

When it comes to school, I never think that I am at a disadvantage. In fact, I believe it’s the richer students whose parents went to college that have the disadvantage. One day I wish we would look at “disadvantaged” students not as needing a bailout, but deserving of a reward because of their commitment to success.