Sunday Brunch vs Nasty Chicken Fingers

“But what happened to doing tech theatre at NYU?” I desperately asked my friend Dani, after hearing she was no longer even planning to apply to her dream school. 

“That’s a really great dream for a someone who can afford 70k a year,” she replied. “But it can’t even be an option for me.”


My first reaction was disbelief. I couldn’t imagine my parents not supporting my passions financially. I’d attended lesson after masterclass after summer program to further my extracurriculars. The idea of my parents saying, “You can’t go, it’s just too expensive” was unknown to me.

 

Summer of 2015, I started to become interested in neuroscience
as a  possible major and/or career. I applied for the National
Student Leadership Conference's Neuro & Psych program,
and was allowed to attend as soon as I was accepted, without
question of finances.  Photo by another NSLC participant.

I spent both summer 2014 and 2015 doing summer programs
at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2014, I completed a
five week performance program. In 2015, I participated in a week
long songwriting intensive. Photo by another Berklee participant. 

I spent three weeks this past summer furthering my
neuroscience interests taking a course focused on
learning and memory at Brown University. Photo by Kelsey's mom.

“Have you looked at Tulane? I can totally picture you there and I’m sure you could stay with my sister if you went down to-”
“Gillian,” she cut me off. “I can’t afford to just jet down to New Orleans for the weekend like you can.”

My sister, Emily, and I hanging out in her beautifully decorated
dorm at Tulane...a school she was allowed to go to without
any financial aid. Photo by my mom. 

This experience was the first step in my cycle of liberation, or my “waking up” as Bobbie Harro might put it. It became apparent to me that even within my own wealthy community, I was closer to the top. This shock of reality helped me to understand what my position in a high social class will mean for me throughout my life, and how I can continue along the cycle.

I took my new knowledge of the privilege that my social class gave me and decided to dedicate my time to those who are less fortunate. I was so excited to drive to Waukegan at 7:30 AM over the summer that I didn’t even need my usual extra-large coffee. I volunteered at an organization called Beacon Place, that which gives kids K-8 free meals, tutoring in math and reading, and then play time. The organization even had a program for the older kids that focused on justice and black history, considering the majority of the kids in this program were of color.

Myself and four children who I regularly spent time with at Beacon Place.
They were eager to see me every day and seeing their smiles always
made me smile. Knowing I was making these kids happy and creating
close friendships with them was empowering. Photo by another Beacon Place volunteer. 

What really struck me about the kids I was tutoring was was their unabashed enthusiasm for learning. The words “summer school” might sound like a burden to a GBN student, but these kids wanted to soak up all the knowledge they could. One little girl, Sariyah, would tug on my arm begging me to run through the math flash cards until she could get them all correct. It became apparent to me that living in a community where the real estate is more expensive is partly because GBN is such a fantastic school. These kids didn’t have the money to live in an area where 99% of graduates head to college. They were also oblivious to how nasty the chicken fingers we served them tasted; eating wasn’t an activity or a pleasure for them like it is for me, where sushi or Sunday brunch is often a social setting. For these children, eating is a necessity that keeps them alive. Realizing this difference in lifestyle was another wakeup experience for me. The time I spent serving food to, tutoring, and playing with these underprivileged children stood as the reaching out and building community steps in my personal cycle of liberation. I felt like I had a better understanding of both those around me, and of myself and my social class. As for the next step, creating change, all I can do is hope that I did. And even if my repetitive flashcard-ing of multiplication facts didn’t end up changing Sariyah, it had an ineffable impact on me.

Myself and some of the children I tutored, ate with, and played with at Beacon Place.
These kids were all cousins or family in some way, and I truly felt a part of their family
too when they would fight about who got hug me first in the morning.
 Sariyah is on my far left. Photo by another Beacon Place volunteer.

Understanding how I can effectively use my position in an agent social class to the advantage of both myself and others opened my eyes to a world of people who I can help. Putting my experiences into a cycle of liberation helps me even further, but what really gets me is the word ‘cycle’; this was just one of mine. I can now start over and be awakened an infinite number of times.