Their "Game" is Harder
Before Yale, I was class blind. I tended to think that everyone was similar to me in that they could afford to go out and spend money. Coming to Yale, it hit me that I was being short sighted and was privileged. Class differences were a thing I objectively knew about earlier, but understood for the first time here. I did Cultural Connections and had a wonderful time- I heard stories of people with giant financial struggles that had shaped them. The space to learn that helped me a lot, and made money a thing I learned to be aware of.
Here I define my morality by my friends and how I can help. I complain about the state of financial aid and the student income contribution because its unfair to my friends. One of my closest friends has to decide between joining extracurriculars and working enough to pay for her student income contribution. Many of my friends are on significant financial aid, and when we go out, we work to make sure that everyone can pay or chip in to help their friends. My politics demand equality of opportunity and active awareness of injustice, so I try to ensure at least my friends all have as many opportunities as possible. I want to give back to share my privilege.
I work on campus because it feels like just asking for money from my parents is playing life on easy mode. I want to earn at least some of what I have, to the extent that I can. Otherwise, I would feel guilty about having for free what a lot of people need to work for. I have noticed that a lot of lower income students gravitate towards STEM fields because they feel the need to have a "more employable degree." Due to these demanding majors (plus more student jobs), lower income students don't get to experience the Yale they were accepted into. The "skin in the game" that lower income students are expected to pay into the student income contribution just means that their "game" is harder, not that they care more.
Here I define my morality by my friends and how I can help. I complain about the state of financial aid and the student income contribution because its unfair to my friends. One of my closest friends has to decide between joining extracurriculars and working enough to pay for her student income contribution. Many of my friends are on significant financial aid, and when we go out, we work to make sure that everyone can pay or chip in to help their friends. My politics demand equality of opportunity and active awareness of injustice, so I try to ensure at least my friends all have as many opportunities as possible. I want to give back to share my privilege.
I work on campus because it feels like just asking for money from my parents is playing life on easy mode. I want to earn at least some of what I have, to the extent that I can. Otherwise, I would feel guilty about having for free what a lot of people need to work for. I have noticed that a lot of lower income students gravitate towards STEM fields because they feel the need to have a "more employable degree." Due to these demanding majors (plus more student jobs), lower income students don't get to experience the Yale they were accepted into. The "skin in the game" that lower income students are expected to pay into the student income contribution just means that their "game" is harder, not that they care more.
