Cycles: Money Makes Money and The Rich Get Richer

I feel somehow that I've been short-changed in life. Although I wouldn't necessarily put it that way either because perhaps I'm being melodramatic, or my expectations are too high. Moreover looking from the outside in, we (the low-income, blue collar crowd of society) can only ASSUME what the lives of the wealthy/privileged are like.

I look to my former high school classmates. A lot of them went on to accept $5,000 scholarships at McGill and UBC. They get internships with the government and other organizations. The one thing that they have in common? They are propped up by, and have the loving support of, their parents.

In high school they were confident and took part in after school programs. They became the presidents and treasurers of x association and x group. They attended conferences in distant cities. They didn't have to work outside of school. Their parents gave them everything they needed. They bought them nice clothes (so that they could attend social/political/community functions and not feel out of place - my first dress shirts came from Value Village). Their parents furnished them with all the latest stationary and school supplies - they never had garage sale specials, they always had enough paper.

They didn't have diabetes either. Which wreaks havoc on a teenager's already fragile state of being. I suffered from a great deal of anxiety in high school and thus sometimes avoided including myself in certain activities. It didn't help that I went to three different high schools either - I hardly got to know anyone for any proper length of time.

In the end, I graduated with little fanfare: a 50 dollar banquet and a certificate. No scholarship offers, no upcoming internships, no plans to attend a prestigious university.

Four years later I'm entering my third year of university and hoping to graduate shortly with a BA Honours degree in History. But it hasn't been easy. There is very little in the way of scholarships and bursaries. And the irony? A lot of them are for students who:

-have participated in after school programs/clubs;
-have been role models in their communities;
-have solid marks;

and so on. PLEASE, tell me, pray, how are we supposed to satisfy all that criteria when:
-We need to work after school jobs to pay for the little things (clothes, movie money, etc.) that the other kids have handed to them by their parents. We can't spend the same time on our school work as those other kids! When we don't get help on our math homework because our parents are too tired when they get home from work and they can't afford a tutor - how are we supposed to stay on par with those other students? When we have a low self-esteem, and so don't run for president or chair member of clubs and organizations - how do we keep on par with them? And then, when we finally get into university/college and are trying to better ourselves, we find that the majority of scholarships/bursaries are only being offered to students who have excelled in school and the community. And so the cycle continues. We're left out, disenfranchised, excluded.

Now am I just complaining or is there something to all of this? Granted, working hard will get you places and perhaps I have not worked hard enough at some things. But when your attention is diverted elsewhere (job outside of school to pay for extracurricular activities, diabetes) it's hard to focus on Mr. Robson's essay or the Human Rights Club. Sure I joined a few clubs at school and attended a few meetings. I made an effort. But I never had the confidence to run for student rep or club president. I never had a strong parental support like a lot of these other kids from privileged backgrounds.

The poorer/less advantaged kids in my school ended up pretty much like me. A lot of them are working, have kids already, or are studying at trade and technical schools = more affordable than university, less book work.

Students who come from good homes (supportive parents, brothers and sisters for role models) succeed in school. They succeed in school and they succeed in life. I wish we all had this reality - but we don't. And those people certainly don't ever want to give up their positions of privilege to reach out to the rest of us at the bottom of the ladder.

I've been researching youth gangs/poverty/housing projects in Ontario and have come to the conclusion that lacking the above mentioned privileges (strong parental support, positive role models) is the ONLY factor that sets these young men and women apart from the rest of us. When you have a low self-esteem (because you never had parents telling you you were special or good at something) how are you supposed to stand up and run for class president? When you aren't fed a proper breakfast in the morning - how are you supposed to concentrate on your school work?

When disadvantaged student x attends a school where the majority of his classmates are well-off, confident, and avid learners, how is he/she expected to follow suit? When your clothes come from a second hand store and your binders come from a garage sale and you sit beside a student who has three 5-star zip-up binders, wears the latest fashions, and has good parents at home who support him/her, would you not feel like you're in the shadow? When it becomes too uncomfortable to be the minority like that (add skin colour to the equation if the student is coloured and attends a mostly white school) - and you drop out because you are so uncomfortable - is it any wonder?

I've always felt more comfortable amongst my own kind: low-income/lower middle class working people. People who wear their shoes in the house, have a mean dog out back, whose parents smoke and drink. Granted, it's far from idyllic, but it's hard to be poor/low-income and fit in with friends/class mates who come from homes where the parents are both dentists/doctors, who have plush leather couches, a nanny/maid, and art work on the walls.

You see the clash of two worlds here? How are we on the lower rung of society supposed to ever catch up with those on top? When those on top constantly put us down for being too lazy or not driven-enough. We're not all born with a rock-solid will. A lot of us are easily influenced and we let outside factors shape who we are and how we view ourselves. If we're constantly told that we're poor and lazy - or if we constantly feel that way about ourselves because others around us are well off and driven, then we let ourselves become that.

IF we're told we mean something. If we're given proper guidance and attention. If people listen to us and show that they value our opinions, then we start to see a new "us". All the kids in Regent Park and Ottawa South and poor, working class areas need is some good guidance and support.

-Tutoring takes nothing from you but your time: you can help kids with their math, English, etc.;

-helping run or finance a local community sports league (soccer, basketball) does not take a whole lot and it gives so much;

-financing a scholarship or donating school supplies is another way to help out.

Please, especially these days where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, be thankful for what you have and share a little bit with others.