We all go through life-altering moments of impact, but those events that end up defining us, also impacts the people around us just as much, or even more. For me, one particular instance in my life led me to pursue a career in social work and simultaneously opened my eyes up to a social problem that is now close to my heart.
As an undergraduate student, I took a class called Education and Society, which helped me see inequities that I never knew existed. Blindly believing what I was told for years, I thought that because America is where dreams come true, that we must live in a meritocracy. However, this class introduced me to a racial ideology called “colorblindness;” one that most of us unknowingly partake in, which in turn shines light on the fact that we sustain on a myth of meritocracy. This issue of colorblindness, coupled with a lack of access to resources for those in a lower socioeconomic status category, and people of color is the social problem I would like to see being addressed.
I saw the consequences of being colorblind (not seeing color), when we did an activity that required us to take on the role of admissions counselors at a made up university. My professor gave all of us students files with student profiles (including standardized test scores, extracurriculars, legacy students (yes or no), GPA’s, etc), the needs of the institution we were admitting students to, and the knowledge that we could only accept two out of the ten “waitlisted” students. My group decided that the best way to determine who we would admit would be to cover up the name of the students, so we would not show bias based on race or ethnicity. During later discussions though, each of us realized that what we did was a disservice to the applicants and our institution because we weren’t looking at the bigger picture. We did not see how much one kid had to struggle to achieve the 3.0 he/she did (having to work, taking the city bus to school, taking care of family, etc) while some of the other kids were given the opportunity to thrive, without the same responsibilities, or distractions.
This one exercise, and course offered me plenty of new perspectives and the ability to empathize with students from all walks of life. It gave me the chance to recognize that so many students have restricted mobility throughout their lives (with regards to educational attainment, aspirations, socioeconomic status, and “status” in society) because certain opportunities have not been within their reach. That being said, I saw the own change in my classmates and their opinions just through a 60 minute discussion. So, one incredibly needed start to addressing this problem would be to make it known—through discussions, and experiments like this one. This social problem will not be eliminated overnight, but it is in desperate need of some attention and awareness; something that will make all the difference.
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