Opportunities in America are not equal. Someone who appears to have it all may be struggling more than those who appear to have nothing. Why? The person who appears to have it all doesn't get help from others while those who appear to need assistance get assistance. Just because someone has light colored skin, has a penis or was born in America does not necessarily mean that they have it any better than a dark skinned person who was born in Africa with a vagina.
Statistics, media, education and common knowledge disagree with this and generally they are correct. However, you could say that an small animal has a better chance of survival
I am privileged and got opportunities that nobody ever got. I grew up in a community where I could make $5 an hour raking leaves, cutting grass, shoveling snow and power washing fences. I was fortunate to grow up in a community that allowed me to develop a strong work ethic. I was blessed to have two parents that were together. I was blessed to have them teach me to save up to buy things on my own. I was blessed to NOT get expensive Christmas and birthday presents. I made $1 over minimum wage at my first taxable job even though I asked for minimum wage and expected no more. I rode my bike to work.
I am extremely privileged to have parents that took me to the dentist, fed me adequate nutrients (except for the PB&J that I got for lunch every day. Thanks mom...) and took me to regular doctor visits. I was extremely privileged to have lived in a neighborhood where crack dealers didn't lead the neighborhood (although marijuana dealers had strong influence.) Because of all of my circumstances where basic human needs could be met and no series condition afflicted me, I was among, according to the Pentagon, the 29% of young adults eligible for service in The United States Military. I was privileged to get the chance to serve my country and work for benefits.
So why did it take me eight years of college to (not) get a bachelor's degree? Because the only calculus I understood in high school was the trajectory of a spitball if I answered a question. Because programming a TI-83 to make a perverted sex game or a flight simulator was more fun. Plus I was years ahead of my classmates from my previous school and could learn in class subconsciously with my head down eyes closed. Tests standards were so low, I could learn everything on the test anyways or use some sort of basic math to derive the answers. It caught up to me when the only trigonometry I knew was the angle of my fishing line, pole and the water and my guidance counselor put me on a "tech-ed" completer instead of a traditional high school diploma.
I don't consider myself a "real" "qualified" high school graduate. I'm was not a cookie cutter student that knows how to interpret Shakespeare or one that knows what SOH-CAH-TOA stands for. I couldn't even do dimensional analysis in Chemistry! (I didn't learn that until my Junior year of college!) Somehow I got accepted into a community college in California based off of my status as a disciplined member of the armed forces. I was able to demonstrate that I could follow instructions from a professor and adapt quickly.
After getting B's in my first two classes in college, I readily learned how to fit coursework into a military life. Straight A's and graduated with honors while taking courses overseas and in garrison. Because of my good grades and legislation that gave me priority registration, I had opportunities to go just about anywhere for college!
Maybe someday I'll publish my story about why I choose SDSU. It had something to do with love, the beach and family. I've wrote books worth about my experiences at SDSU and actually have published a couple of blogs about my experiences there, as well as scholarship applications. That's actually what I wanted to talk about and the inequities of scholarships.
Most all of the scholarship essays that I got declined for. I thought it was because I was "white" but I am not actually "white." (That's something I learned in Physics AND Chemistry.) I attempted to get over 24 scholarship essays. I got rejected or didn't have the time or motivation to fully apply. I lost hope after applying and getting rejected multiple times. All the scholarships seemed to be for Latinos, Afrikans, women in engineering or students that had connections or were studying abroad. Not for me. I felt like some sort of white reject being punished for some slave ownership that people unrelated to me did to others. That's what I felt and identified as the reason why I wasn't getting money. I felt extreme anger later on when I discovered that my friend with a last name of "Lopez" was getting almost every scholarship that I got rejected for. Then I found out that my Southern American, self-proclaimed "white"friend from Georgia that pronounces with name with a country accent and refuses to roll the R's, got a scholarship that I applied for. I still suspect to this day his award was accredit it to his last name being "Hernandez." However, I know him and Mr. Lopez both had excellent scholarship essays, and it would take some advanced spying, social engineering and finding a massive mirror in space to prove or disprove that.
Okay now logic. If you have a limiting belief, and you let others define an aspect of who you are, then you could be limited be other's definitions of reality. I thought that I was "white." I'm not white. That's a scientific fact. I thought I was in some group of people that doesn't get scholarship and is usually financially better off than everyone. Statistics and numbers have been presented to me as arguments proving that I'm statistically from a wealthy family. Because of the success of so many people with tan colored skin and with the last name (which is an adopted name anyways,) I did not get scholarships. I was discriminated against for being an Central-Eastern American. Guess what, I am from a wealthy family! We're wealthy beyond our wildest dreams! My immediate family is dirt poor when it comes to money.
One of my colleagues, Joe Lopez, later showed me his method for getting scholarships. He approaches it like an engineer, making an excel spreadsheet and keeping track of deadlines and requirements. Him and John Hernandez are both articulate and had excellent scholarship essays. Once you have one good one, you can custom tailor your essay to each submission as necessary. At that point it becomes a simple iterative process. That's why they say it's free money. Once you know how to get past the writing curve, the money flows in.
Eventually, I did some leadership roles in a student organization and was rewarded for my labor. Also I got a small one for studying abroad that just about everyone gets that applies. I was able to pay for college and international studies with my GI Bill. Then I was able to use my Pell and Cal grants to help cover living expenses. Then I was able to take out students loans to cover my PTS medication and search for cures. But that's a whole 'nother storybook. This is about the eight year plan
The rest of this series is about identified problems and solutions to problems that can be solved from petascale to femtolevel data processing and comprehension. I'll try not to talk about my accomplishments or failures, but rather the difficulties that I faced and how I learned how to swim in turbulent waters, which brings me to my next (much shorter) entry about how to swim in turbulent waters.
You may just be able to find the next post in this series here or a parallel post on one of my other blogs. Maybe it is already published or maybe I died out here in the marshlands and my story ends here. You will probably never find my body. There are vultures and the turbulent water is turbulent and cold. Did I mention turbulence? That's unpredictable mixed flow. You should read my next blog entry about it.
