Privilege

By Karen Zheng

I took the PSAT this year for the first time. When the test was finally over, the proctor asked us two yes or no “research” questions that would "not affect our scores". The first was if we used the “Official Student Guide to the PSAT/ NMSQT” booklet to prepare. I vaguely remember noticing a big pile of them outside of the guidance office, free for the taking, several weeks before the exam. I looked at the second question. It asked if one or both of our parents went to college. I bubbled in the negative for both of them.

The second question seemed like déjà vu to me, as it was one of the questions from SLI's Privilege Walk. If one or both of your parents went to college, you were to take a step or two forward. I ended up as almost the farthest back person in the walk, meaning that I was one of the most "stereotypically unprivileged" people in the room. It was a shock; I have always thought of myself as a privileged individual.

I thought about the questions asked. If you were a female, you were to take a step back. If you were under eighteen, you were to take a step back. If you were under sixteen, you were to take another step back. If you had to worry about citizenship, you were to take a step back. If you did not fully trust your parents with certain discussions, you were to take a step back. I did not understand how these questions could determine how fortunate someone is, because adult male citizens who have good salaries and good relationships with their families have problems just like everyone else. I initially thought the questions were unfair; if different questions were asked, I might be in the "privileged" group.

We then tried to define privilege as a group; I remember saying, “being born with things that others don't have.” Some people agreed with me, expressing their doubts of the walk as a good measure of privilege. Some said that it was pretty accurate, defining "privilege" as access to material goods (for example, if you have ever lived in public housing, you probably lived in poverty at some point, which puts you at a more unprivileged state than someone from the middle- or upper-class). Others said that privilege was self-gained, so everything that you are born with means nothing; only what you make happen for yourself counts. Still others narrowed this down by saying that only happiness should matter, and how happy you are equals how privileged you are. Although we could not come to a definite conclusion about privilege, we agreed that being "privileged" is to have everything that we need to survive and be content with life, and also to be a part of SLI and society's institutions.

I looked at the PSAT book before me. I wonder what “research” they will gather – will kids with highly educated parent(s) have generally higher grades than kids whose parent(s) did not attend college, or vice versa? Either scenario could happen, though there probably will be no correlation. In some cases, “uneducated” parents will want their children to be better than they are, and will push them harder than “educated” parents to excel in school to have better job opportunities in the future. In other cases, “uneducated” parents will use themselves as templates for their children – if they did not study much and are financially stable now, their children can do the same and focus on other activities, like working or sports. I think having parents who did not attend college is sort of a privilege; I am influenced to work harder so that I will not have as physically demanding jobs as they do. Other times, I wish my parents know what it is like to be in my shoes, so they would stop telling me to loosen up on extracurricular activities, or to sleep before midnight because it is "just one science test". Either way, I know I cannot affect my parents' past. My future should not be based on privileges that I may or may not have been lucky enough to have been born with.