My initial and informal definition of class was certain “groups” in which people of a society are generally grouped based on their social status or income. Honestly, before this class, I did not know how many things affect class. I knew that there were certain factors that play into class that make people more likely to be placed into their respective classes, such as the class that their parents were in, but I did not realize how many other factors play into putting one into a certain class or allowing one to change classes throughout their lifetime. Learning about the different keywords in assignment 1, such as my own keyword, which was globalization, opened my eyes as to what affects class. I learned a little bit about globalization in a Human Geography class I took last year in high school, but we did not go into detail about how it relates to class. I only assumed that multinational corporations expanding globally would only have positive outcomes and didn’t realize that it contributed to a long and continuous cycle of keeping people in their respective classes and making the rich even richer.
Being from New York City, I have been able to see a mixture of classes in a relatively small area. In a matter of blocks, the general class of a certain area can drastically change. I was lucky enough to have grown up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. One area of the Upper West Side, in particular, has always stood out to me as an area of mixed classes. In the low 100s all the way up to Columbia University, there are vast differences in classes only separated between a few avenues. On Riverside Drive and West End Avenue, the apartments are in pre-war buildings and are expensive and highly sought after. A few avenues up to Amsterdam, there are many low-income housing options available. As this area is right in my community, I have been able to meet all types of people from different classes and backgrounds. Through this course, I have been able to learn about issues or differences people may face in certain classes, and it has given me more insight into where I come from and the people around me.