nbnguyen's blog

When I was a kid, my father and teachers always told me the same thing "Schooling is the only way to succeed". "Succeed" means wealth, high social status and public recognition. Newspapers were filled successful stories of people who raised themselves from poverty to opulence by studying hard, being determined and gaining advanced degrees. I believe many people in the US have the same expectation that education may help the poor overcome their situations. That's why their policies favor the diversity and finacial aids occupies a large part of the college's budget. Yes, it's true that a person, with a decent degree, can get a high-paid job and be in middle class.

However, just to some very determined and very talented people, education can level the playing field. In most cases, it can. Rich people always have better access to schooling than the rest of the community. Some educational systems favor the rich by high tuition fees. In some private schools, poor kids are somehow marginalized and forced to lose their identity (It was described by Bell Hooks). High socioeconomic status allows the rich to go to college and succeed. The successful kids can continue to maintain their social standing. Their children continue to receive the benefits of education. It can happen as a cycle. Education in this case is the tool to maintain the unfair social order.

"Women in Luttrell’s study did not have access to schooling in the past. But I believe what they learned in the daily life gave them the access to education. Their intelligence is attached with common sense. “I think being intelligent means coping with things in life. Even people with high IQs or with college degrees don’t know how to do the simplest, everyday things or cope with everyday problems.” (Luttrell 25). Knowing how to deal with life involves self-development. For example, a woman who gains experience as a mother, overtime may be better at giving births and taking care of children. They develop their skills by reflecting what they did, correcting their mistakes and improving their situations in the future. On the contrary, in case of Jane Tompkins, despite her advanced schooling, her education is cut off from the real life situations. All she learned is just theoretical. She was not well-equipped for life. “It would be more helpful to students if, as a starting point, universities conceived education less as training for a career than an introduction to life.” (Tompkins 223). Tompkins, according to the basic definition, did not really access to education due to her advanced schooling".

After the class discussion last Thursday, I discovered about how class issues are reflected in two texts and thought about myself. I recognized a characterestic of human nature "People always want more". Lower-class women in Luttrell's study desired a stable life and the social recognition. Tompkins, who got all of them, desired something more - a fulfillment of her inner side. It is somehow associated with my life. When I was a kid, our family's desire at that time was a realistic one- a stable financial life. The purpose of my education in the past was also very practical - getting into a business school. I focused on the subjects required for the university entrance exam rather than learn what I really liked. When I got into a top high school and my opportunity to get into a good college was nearly guaranteed, I realized I did not take care of my human side. I used to love reading and creating poems but now I can rarely write a good essay. Compared to my middle-class classmates, I am just a nerd who knows nothing except for study. I feel like I am one of the students in Tompkins class who are forced to pursue some practical careers without being interested in them. However, if I compare myself to a woman in Lutrell's study, to many poor children on the streets and to myself in the past, I may be a lucky girl.

I hope you will enjoy my map!

The topic of my first paper is how the formation of my personality has been affected by the gender of my classmates. When I was in grade 8, my class had 14 students. 12 of them were boys. Frequent interactions with them has created my strong personality. Then, a few years later, I moved to another extreme gender environment - an all girls' dorm. It somehow made me become more gentle and caring. Overall, my personality is a mixture of boys' and girls' characters.

Hi

I am Ngoc Nguyen. My English name is Nancy. I was born and grew up in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Before coming to the US, I studied IB in New Zealand for two years. I intended to major in Economics and minor in Educational studies. My dream is making education reform or creating a school on my own. Besides these two subjects, I am also interested in