{"id":1381,"date":"2016-12-06T12:01:36","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2016-12-09T19:30:09","modified_gmt":"2016-12-10T00:30:09","slug":"researching-eliteness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2016\/12\/06\/researching-eliteness\/","title":{"rendered":"Researching Eliteness"},"content":{"rendered":"

This project has allowed\u00a0me\u00a0to 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\u00a0after 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!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This for me began\u00a0the trend of exclusivity that was blatant throughout the research we conducted this semester.<\/p>\n

Micaela, the student I interviewed for the project, recognizes the privilege she has to attend\u00a0the 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\u00a0the 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\u00a0she could make significant change. However, I felt like asking further questions\u00a0would put Micaela in a uncomfortable position since they\u00a0do not have simple answers.<\/p>\n

Learning about\u00a0both sides of the spectrum, or about people who more or less inherit their success or failure, to me is essential\u00a0in trying to create equality in the future. This idea\u00a0clicked for me when I was able to talk to Micaela about her\u00a0mothers 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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\u00a0as a person. The most challenging\u00a0part of this project for me was trying to process, understand and come to terms with the way society works around class.<\/p>\n

While engaging in this research\u00a0I 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\u00a0learn 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\u00a0help 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.<\/p>\n

The reaction I expect:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u00a0people who could not dream of getting the formal education I am getting.<\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This project has allowed\u00a0me\u00a0to 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\u00a0after graduation. In the beginning phases of the project seeing how difficult it was to access the Croft School was bizarre. In order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6729,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6729"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1583,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions\/1583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}