H.N

Stranger A: Which school do you go to?

Me: I go to ACJC.

Stranger A: Oh, your dad must be some big-shot banker.

Me: Uhhhh whatttt?

Stranger B: Yeah ACJC is full of super rich kids. They say back in the 80s, the students occupied all the faculty parking lots. Do you drive like a Porsche to school?

Me: Whattttt????

Believe me or not, that’s often the kind of conversation I have whenever I tell someone I go to ACJC/ACS. They almost always picture ACS students as kids who would gladly spend a few grand of their parents’ money on dinner on a whim (I admit that some actually do that) and that leads me to ponder over the privileges that I possess as a student at a so-called elite school.

There are few schools in Asia that can boast more than 130 years of history. Mine is one of them and the privileges that come with being in a school where most influential bankers and businessmen in the country come from are nothing short of incredible. Most people associate privileges with financial capacity aka ‘I can buy anything a friend of a friend of my friend says I need’ but privileges go a long way beyond that. The social capital or the resources based on group membership and networks of influence, in my opinion, is a crucial factor that perpetuates the eliteness of the elite.

I remember clearly how more than a few people I know at ACJC/ACS secured highly sought-after banking internships after just a couple of calls to the school alumni while friends at other schools were working their ***** off just to complete the application.

I remember the time when the school choir went to London for a performance and found out someone had messed up the hotel booking. A few minutes after someone made a call to an alumnus, a fleet of cars appeared out of nowhere, ready to take everyone to the best hotels in town.

I remember the numerous times when I casually asked hugely successful financiers for advice and they never failed to reply despite their hectic schedule just because as alumni, they felt a sense of pride and responsibility to contribute to the school in one way or another.

These are all manifestations of social capital and they affect us in more ways than we’d like to admit. I have come to believe that members of the elite tend to favor those who belong to the same social circles. After all, who wouldn’t want to do that? Who wouldn’t want to give the best opportunities to people who share similar backgrounds and values? Why would anyone want to take a risk by choosing someone out of his familiar circles? Graduating from elite institutions is not much different from passing an entrance exam – an important social exam that supposedly guarantees that a person has been tested and is fit to be an elite. I believe it is not surprising then that privileges perpetuate privileges.

As a third-generation college kid, I have a huge interest in the experience of first-generation students and talking to some of them has been a real eye-opening experience. The privileges I possess become ever more apparent to me. My elite school has, without a doubt, prepared me well for college – almost too well that the transition seems unexciting at times. I’m so used to having lectures, selecting classes, getting help from professors, buying my own books, applying to programs I find interesting, utilizing the school facilities and most importantly, believing in myself that I don’t really find any struggle adapting to the new lifestyle. Many of my peers are not so fortunate. As I talk to them, it dawns upon me that tasks that seem simple and mundane to me such as selecting courses can be foreign and stressful to them. I become aware of the fact that even going to college means a huge change to many of them. Several have parents who have no knowledge of college application – they expect their children to get a job after graduating from high school. As I grew up, I always thought that going to college was a given and it startled me when I realized it wasn’t. It made me realize how privileged I had always been.