Yale Isn't an Equalizer
It’s very easy for students of all financial backgrounds to delude themselves that we are all on an equal playing field. We can all sometimes think, "we all made it here so we are all equal," but that skims over the disparities that some of my friends have acutely felt, being that they come from widely varying high schools.
The infrastructure doesn't account for people that come from very different academic backgrounds. I have felt intimidated in sections by people who come from feeder schools who know how to participate in expected ways. I felt like Yale said, "We gave you a pretty financial aid letter, and we let you in," but that's not actually enough to heal the gaping class wound between my home and here. When Yale admits lower income students, they give them the tools to join the elite, but they don't give them an instruction book or the emotional support to grow.
I am scared for what happens after Yale. There are the low-income students that Yale parades around as success stories, but these student succeeded despite challenges. Some students go home, but then they don't fit in there or in the elite. This worry makes me question important parts of my time at Yale. Do I want to get paraded around? How much do I owe Yale after I graduate? How do I reconcile getting here and then not always feeling welcome or supported?
I would love to experience the Yale I chose to attend. I want to attend lectures and go to networking parties and be a leader in a few extracurricular groups. To make this happen, Yale needs to get rid of the student income contribution, so I wouldn't need to work two jobs, so I won't need to decide between a leadership position and a fifth class, so I would be able to go on academic field trips without worrying about missing work and the paycheck that goes with it. What is the difference between Yale and anywhere else if I can't take advantage of all the great things it does? For all intents and purposes, I might as well not be at Yale right now. Yale doesn't support students like me.
The student income contribution isn't so devastating for the money it requires I earn, but for the social consequences while I am here. I have so much "skin in the game" in that I have nothing else at home. Rich kids don't need this like I do, and still don't have any "skin in the game." A lot of my friends can dedicate their time to leadership positions because they don't need to work. Yale isn't an equalizer, it’s reproducing the "real world" in that students with money make all the decisions, and the poor students just keep working.
*I am choosing to publish my story anonymously because I fear the consequences of biting the hand that feeds me. I feel like I have to play the game to be successful, and part of that is not challenging the systems I don't like.*
The infrastructure doesn't account for people that come from very different academic backgrounds. I have felt intimidated in sections by people who come from feeder schools who know how to participate in expected ways. I felt like Yale said, "We gave you a pretty financial aid letter, and we let you in," but that's not actually enough to heal the gaping class wound between my home and here. When Yale admits lower income students, they give them the tools to join the elite, but they don't give them an instruction book or the emotional support to grow.
I am scared for what happens after Yale. There are the low-income students that Yale parades around as success stories, but these student succeeded despite challenges. Some students go home, but then they don't fit in there or in the elite. This worry makes me question important parts of my time at Yale. Do I want to get paraded around? How much do I owe Yale after I graduate? How do I reconcile getting here and then not always feeling welcome or supported?
I would love to experience the Yale I chose to attend. I want to attend lectures and go to networking parties and be a leader in a few extracurricular groups. To make this happen, Yale needs to get rid of the student income contribution, so I wouldn't need to work two jobs, so I won't need to decide between a leadership position and a fifth class, so I would be able to go on academic field trips without worrying about missing work and the paycheck that goes with it. What is the difference between Yale and anywhere else if I can't take advantage of all the great things it does? For all intents and purposes, I might as well not be at Yale right now. Yale doesn't support students like me.
The student income contribution isn't so devastating for the money it requires I earn, but for the social consequences while I am here. I have so much "skin in the game" in that I have nothing else at home. Rich kids don't need this like I do, and still don't have any "skin in the game." A lot of my friends can dedicate their time to leadership positions because they don't need to work. Yale isn't an equalizer, it’s reproducing the "real world" in that students with money make all the decisions, and the poor students just keep working.
*I am choosing to publish my story anonymously because I fear the consequences of biting the hand that feeds me. I feel like I have to play the game to be successful, and part of that is not challenging the systems I don't like.*
