Graciela Lopez

This project has allowed me to understand the importance of learning about prestigious institutions. I have always focused on issues prevalent in low income schools because I plan to work in a low income school after graduation. In the beginning phases of the project seeing how difficult it was to access the Croft School was bizarre. In order to learn about eliteness, you have to be elite!

This for me began the trend of exclusivity that was blatant throughout the research we conducted this semester.

Micaela, the student I interviewed for the project, recognizes the privilege she has to attend the Croft School. Throughout our interviews Micaela made it clear that she understood the odds were in her favor. During the interview process, I tried my best to only ask questions relevant to the interview topic. I could tell she coped with benefiting from this unjust system by rationalizing that she was different from the other elite people who surround her. In the future she wants to improve the systems in place and help the poor. How? She does not know. During all three interviews I wanted to peer into why she felt guilty and ask if she really thought she could make significant change. However, I felt like asking further questions would put Micaela in a uncomfortable position since they do not have simple answers.

Learning about both sides of the spectrum, or about people who more or less inherit their success or failure, to me is essential in trying to create equality in the future. This idea clicked for me when I was able to talk to Micaela about her mothers business. Micaela’s mom wants to promote someone who is not elite. Her social circle advises her against it because the person is ‘not one of them.’ Micaela’s mom disagrees with this and has decided to promote this person. She has taught Micaela that this exclusivity should not happen.

Researching eliteness for the last semester has made me reflect on my social standing and how I hope to create change. For me doing this research and interviewing Micaela was enjoyable. As a low income student it was interesting to see the assuredness that came with the amount of wealth Micaela’s family has. I also really liked Micaela as a person. The most challenging part of this project for me was trying to process, understand and come to terms with the way society works around class.

While engaging in this research I often reflected on the privilege I have to learn about eliteness and systems of oppression. Throughout my Colby career I have had the ability to learn about the systems in place meant to keep people in the socioeconomic positions that they are born into. While I hope to use the knowledge I have acquired to teach my future students, how helpful is this to other people in my life? How does me knowing ways ‘the system’ sets certain individuals up for failure help the people I know that live paycheck to paycheck? What about the people I know who feel powerless in their situations due to their position in the cycle of poverty? It doesn’t. The knowledge I have acquired does nothing for them.

The reaction I expect:

I want to get to a place in my life where I can help these people. In the near future, I want to teach my students the western ideas necessary for them to succeed while also validating the idea that those people who have not achieved ‘the American Dream’ in their lives are not inferior. In fact, I want to emphasize that the most important lessons I have learned where taught to me by people who could not dream of getting the formal education I am getting.

As the interviewer of my group, I was very curious before starting the process what type of person my interviewee would be. My mind took me to the extremes. For me, this meant imagining she would be a snobby rich girl or, on the other end of the spectrum, a student who was extremely involved (in other words a ‘woke brown girl’). When I finally got to talk to Micaela I was pleasantly surprised by how aware she was of injustice.

After the initial awkwardness of getting used to being interviewed, her ability to identify the privilege she experiences in her life and her eagerness to talk about issues of class made the interview process interesting. She addressed her privilege in such a matter of fact way that when she told me she would be going to the American embassy to watch the election or that a prince visited her school last year I was not surprised.

Through all of these interviews she was very critical of the Croft school. She made it clear that on the surface it seemed as though her school does everything right, but in reality they only do things to make them look good. They have a student council, for example, that is publicized as an agent of change. This is supposed to be a way for students to have an active role in their education. When I asked what the council does she stated that they have lots of demands but not many results. This group of students are only awarded these positions because Chile requires every school to have a student council.

Originally my group was interested in focusing on volunteer work, so when the student I was interviewing mentioned giving back to the community I made sure to ask as many follow up questions as possible. Unfortunately, she made it clear that this was not a huge priority at the Croft School. As with many things that go on at her school community service is said to be a priority, but in reality not much community service gets done. As she explained it, “it’s just for appearance.” This was upsetting to me because according to the schools mission statement “the spirt of service” is at the core of their “educational project.”

For these students volunteering could be a way to interact with people of a different social class. The only time Micaela interacts with someone of a different social class is through community service, which she does three times a year, or through her families paid ‘helper.’ If students did more community service, their school could boast about giving back without having to lie.

Through asking questions about appearance versus reality the student recommended Cuicoterapia by Josefina Reutter. After reading some of the authors satirical work I was able to better understand the importance of people acting out their designated social norms. Through Reutter’s critique of elite chilean people it is clear that validation is important and is a constant pressure. This relates to the Croft School’s need to officially promote certain values to prove their eliteness without committing to these ideals.

As a student who attended a charter school geared toward helping first generation low-income students my experience is incredibly different from that of my college peers who went to elite schools. This reality sometimes makes me feel out of place and in another world at Colby.

I especially feel this way when people talk about skiing and their summer homes. Being a part of the Colby community sometimes makes me forget that I am privileged to be attending such an elite institution.

At my high school I was surrounded by black and Latinx students. We all were doing our best to stay in school and graduate. Reflecting on my charter school experience, I realize that I was kept busy all the time. I was taught that to get into college and earn a full scholarship I had to basically be super woman. Since I knew that I wanted to go to college, I took this information and ran with it. I was a part of everything. I now look back on my high school experience and realize that I was significantly more stressed then than I am now.

I think my experience is different from the students who we will be researching because there is an entitlement that usually comes with being of a higher social class. When I say entitlement, I am not talking about the self-importance people sometimes give themselves when their parents are successful. Instead, I am referring to the notion that rich people are raised with the idea that their futures will be nothing but successful. A college education and a well paying job is the expectation. This was never the case for me. Throughout my life there has always been this idea that those who receive a college education and “make it out” are anomalies. For many people from my community, college is not regarded as a serious option, and is definitely not considered a requirement. This mindset helps people justify not continuing their education and accept menial low paying jobs.

One of the reasons why I work so hard to be successful in school is because of my parents. They immigrated to this country so that my brothers and I could get an education. They were forced to be a way from their loved ones and were often discriminated against for speaking English poorly. Their stories and experiences put pressure on me to do well so that all the sacrifices they have made and continue to make are worth it.

As we discussed in class, elite schools often prioritize assimilation and Western ideals. Throughout middle school and high school for me this meant wearing a professional uniform, practicing my handshake, and going to presentations that were intended to increase my cultural capital. Here I negotiated my culture everyday in the hopes of being good enough to go to college. With my educational experiences in mind, I wonder if the person I will be interviewing and I will find a commonality through the need of code switching to be successful.