"You were set up to fail."
No, ladies and gentleman, Those words of wisdom are not part of NBC's relaunch of "the more you know" campaign (remember those!?!?). They are however the words of one of my faculty members today who said them at the conclusion of a simulation project my classmates and I engaged in this morning that ended with all of us frustrated, annoyed, and ready for May 8.
It's funny. This thing called life. I think all of us would like to think that we've been set up for success. On the grand scheme. But is that a privileged way of looking at things? I was raised in a great family, in a great home, in a great neighborhood. My parents are both incredibly successful and educated. They put me through school and made sure I was committed to my studies. They paid for me to take standardized test prep courses. They allowed me to attend an amazing institution. They supported me as I looked for my first job. They stood by me when I decided to step down from my professional role and don my student hat once again. And here I am on the brink of returning to the professional world and they still stand behind me and support me. I've been set up for success, not to fail. But I'm one of the lucky ones.
I attended a program this evening that a group of my students put on. It was a homelessness poverty simulation and the Executive Director of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter came to speak with the students and participants about homelessness. The complexities. The realities. The fact that there are 400 people (give or take 100) every month who find themselves living on the streets in Athens because they made one wrong decision or because life decided to throw them a curve ball they weren't prepared for. The students found out tonight how hard it it to secure housing when you don't have a job, how difficult it is to secure employment when you don't have a permanent address, how welfare can only take you so far and how the system doesn't make it easy for you to pick yourself up and succeed.
Our classmates did not take well to hearing in today's simulation that we were set up to fail. It's because we're not used to hearing that. EVER. We're all pursuing graduate education. We're all blessed, privileged, and we all believe we were set up to succeed. But not everyone has that same outlook on life. Not everyone believes they were set up to succeed or that they can succeed. It's the realities of life. It's not fair, it's not right. But it's reality. And that breaks my heart.
It's funny. This thing called life. I think all of us would like to think that we've been set up for success. On the grand scheme. But is that a privileged way of looking at things? I was raised in a great family, in a great home, in a great neighborhood. My parents are both incredibly successful and educated. They put me through school and made sure I was committed to my studies. They paid for me to take standardized test prep courses. They allowed me to attend an amazing institution. They supported me as I looked for my first job. They stood by me when I decided to step down from my professional role and don my student hat once again. And here I am on the brink of returning to the professional world and they still stand behind me and support me. I've been set up for success, not to fail. But I'm one of the lucky ones.
I attended a program this evening that a group of my students put on. It was a homelessness poverty simulation and the Executive Director of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter came to speak with the students and participants about homelessness. The complexities. The realities. The fact that there are 400 people (give or take 100) every month who find themselves living on the streets in Athens because they made one wrong decision or because life decided to throw them a curve ball they weren't prepared for. The students found out tonight how hard it it to secure housing when you don't have a job, how difficult it is to secure employment when you don't have a permanent address, how welfare can only take you so far and how the system doesn't make it easy for you to pick yourself up and succeed.
Our classmates did not take well to hearing in today's simulation that we were set up to fail. It's because we're not used to hearing that. EVER. We're all pursuing graduate education. We're all blessed, privileged, and we all believe we were set up to succeed. But not everyone has that same outlook on life. Not everyone believes they were set up to succeed or that they can succeed. It's the realities of life. It's not fair, it's not right. But it's reality. And that breaks my heart.
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