When I think of class, I think of it as a hierarchy of different groups who don’t only have a difference in wealth but also a difference in how they live their lives. I still think this definition stands true because as a low-income student from Mexican immigrant parents, it has affected the way we have lived our lives. To add to that, I have also seen the way wealthy people live their lives, in which I can say that there is a major difference.
The way it has shaped my life the most has been through education. As my city is mostly filled with people of color and low-income families, there is this common pattern in each of us who attend school in my city of Waukegan, which is that most of us struggle academically. However, this struggle has been strongly influenced by wealth and class. For example, for me, and for most students in Waukegan, there aren’t enough academic resources for us to utilize which prevents us from really succeeding in academics. The thing is, that if we do want to get a hold of more academic resources like certain programs, or tutoring, we have to travel to wealthy towns that are 40-45 mins away from Waukegan. I think class plays a role in this because it shows that it is easier for people who have wealth to have resources because those top notch academic resources are located in towns like those. Growing up though, kids grow up with the mentality that Waukegan’s failures come from the laziness and lack of hard work from the people. But in reality, those characteristics have always been given to us by the towns that surround Waukegan which are all wealthy white towns. As I entered middle school and high and school, I have learned that it is not the lack of hard work that influences the flaws of Waukegan, rather, the lack of resources which is impacted by wealth. While money does not bring you happiness as they say, I have for sure seen that it makes life hell of a more comfortable and easier to live in this country.