Blog Post 1 Alyssa Petrarca
U.S.A Land of Limitations?
By: Nicholas Kristof
Reflection:
Reading this text makes me think of the people I know who come from rich families and are automatically successful. When I first got to college I attended the University of Rhode Island. I made friends with people from all over the United States. I made friends with many of them whose parents were either doctors or stock brokers. They didn't even understand the concept of a dollar. They never worked a day in there life and the only responsibilities they had was to attend class. All of them graduated and seeing them now there doing the same thing. They don't need to use there degree to get a job because they are brought into money and will have that money for the rest of there life. The article Kristof wrote has a specific quote that stood out to me, "Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist, has noted that in the United States, parents’ incomes correlate to their adult children’s incomes roughly as heights do. “The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall,” Krueger observed in a speech. “It happens, but not often". It's sad to say but it is actually very true. Families all over the world that come from low income homes have a hard time providing for their family. This results in problems for the children because they don't have the money or the support they need to attend college. Even if the students took out loans for school the loans aren't going to get approved unless someone in the family has good credit. It's hard for a person to be able to overcome that and rise to being wealthy.
Class Discussion: Bring up college example
By: Nicholas Kristof
Reflection:
Reading this text makes me think of the people I know who come from rich families and are automatically successful. When I first got to college I attended the University of Rhode Island. I made friends with people from all over the United States. I made friends with many of them whose parents were either doctors or stock brokers. They didn't even understand the concept of a dollar. They never worked a day in there life and the only responsibilities they had was to attend class. All of them graduated and seeing them now there doing the same thing. They don't need to use there degree to get a job because they are brought into money and will have that money for the rest of there life. The article Kristof wrote has a specific quote that stood out to me, "Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist, has noted that in the United States, parents’ incomes correlate to their adult children’s incomes roughly as heights do. “The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall,” Krueger observed in a speech. “It happens, but not often". It's sad to say but it is actually very true. Families all over the world that come from low income homes have a hard time providing for their family. This results in problems for the children because they don't have the money or the support they need to attend college. Even if the students took out loans for school the loans aren't going to get approved unless someone in the family has good credit. It's hard for a person to be able to overcome that and rise to being wealthy.
Class Discussion: Bring up college example
I really like your real life connection comparing wealthy families to poor families. Someone who is poor has a better opportunity at getting a higher paying job if they have a degree, but someone wealthy does not have that problem, which is similar to what you mentioned. I also loved how you made the connection with the quote, but instead of talking about someone in poverty you talked about someone who is wealthy and their parents income correlating to their income. Overall, I think you did a great job making connections to the real world and the article and interpreting everything seamlessly.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed ur connections to the article. Although I think we have much more of a opportunity now to better ourselves has long as we work hard for it then there was back then.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed your personal experience with this topic. I know people who are in a similar situation with wealthy parents. I think it relates back to our first reading whereas children with wealthier parents are more privileged in America's society. I've heard people say "you can't make it today without a college degree" however unfortunately, the people who need it most can't afford it.
ReplyDeleteI like your connection to your experiences as well. It is sad that if you were brought up in a less fortunate household then it is going to be harder for you to overcome that as an adult. Many of those people just want to change and not go through that for their family but there are so many obstacles.
ReplyDeleteI respect that you recognize the privilege your wealthy friends have over people who are born into low-income homes. A lot of people will still argue that the parents/families have nothing to do with it because it's up to the student to get attend school and get their own education/make their own path to college. However, you and I (and Kristof, of course) both agree that too many challenges get in poor folks' ways when they are trying to get their education, but end up falling behind.
ReplyDelete