Reflecting

I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to be involved in this research project. Although the experience has been challenging and stressful at times, I know my small contribution to this large research project is appreciated and valued (brace yourself, I may get a little cheesy.)

What makes this project special is the number of people from Colby College and across the world who have been involved. My contribution seems small when I think about the entirety of this research project, and I am sure that I am not alone in this. However, without the “small” efforts of every person involved (whether it be conducting interviews, being the interview subject, writing a case study, or contacting students) this project wouldn’t exist. It’s a puzzle that cannot be finished without each piece: each school that participates, every student from around the globe who agrees to be interviewed, every student who signs up for this class. Throughout my time spent on this research project I’ve felt connected to all of these people in a small, but substantial way (I warned you this would be cheesy).

Through the duration of this research project I haven’t been able to shake one question: What does it mean for the elite to be researched by other elite? I have spent some time mulling over this question in my head and have considered many answers (and I am not sure that there is an exact answer for this).

To be frank, at first I thought being elite and researching the elite was bogus. I didn’t understand how we, as elite individuals attending an elite institution, could illuminate the drawbacks of elite institutions without considering our own role in the perpetuation of “eliteness”. We have the resources to investigate what it means to be elite in this society and the disparities of privilege between the elite and the non-elite. We criticize the system, but we are not the ones being harmed by it. Rather, we benefit from the exact system we are criticizing. We, at Colby College and other elite institutions, are privileged enough to be aware of the structures at play that deprive people in the lower class, but the people in the lower class, who are actually effected, are not told about the structures working against them.

Then I read Marco Zamarron’s blog post. His post help me realize that having this knowledge as an elite is important, but what’s most important is what I do with my knowledge. If I have the knowledge of the system of elite and continue to do nothing about it, then I am only perpetuating that exact system. Instead, I need to recognize my privilege and use it to create change. That is what this research project is accomplishing. The privilege of the researchers and students involved in this research project wields power, and, in my opinion, that power is being put to good use.