A penalty of affluence
I had an amusing experience the other night.
Some Stanford friends came in from out of town with their daughter, a high school Junior (I'm not that old, am I?), and brought along a friend of the daughter's for a SoCal college tour. It's been over 30 years since I had to answer that question, so it was a fun, nostalgic trip. It was fun to re-explore that whole time of life. They have different answers than I did.
So I started asking questions. Where have you been? (Many different schools.) What kind of schools are you looking for? (Smaller, 10-20K, liberal arts, not for hard science or engineering.) Stanford? (No.) Why qualities are you looking for in a school? (A good sports reputation.) Academics? (No.) Party school? (No. We're looking for a school with good diversity.)
Diversity? Like Republicans AND tree-huggers, living together under the same roof? No, not exactly. Mom explained to me that daughter wants a school with a higher proportion of black students than was typical, 10-15% or so (statistically it is 6% or less). Not gimongous and flooded with Orientals (Asians, buttwipe). I see. The unspoken reason for the daughter's preference is because her boyfriend is black (she's not). That's fine by me, of course, but I don't know how that fits in with choosing a college, but whatever floats your boat, you know?
So, I played the game a little more. East of the Mississippi, west of the Mississippi? (Shrug.) I pretty much gave up at that point and Mom and Dad and I chatted about schools. I made some suggestions they hadn't thought of. The conversation turned to other subjects. The evening passed and it was good to have a chance to chat with old friends.
A couple days later, it occured to me that what those affluent, suburban kids were doing was completely different than what I did. I figured college is college, Michigan State was right next door and as good a choice as any. I also applied to Michigan and because I was a good swimmer, talked to several other schools trying to snare a scholarship, but didn't. In the end, I applied to Stanford because my High School Swim Coach said I should. Basically, I applied on a dare and got in. There, I said it.
Now, these kids were choosing a school more to live a fantasy. Athletic jocks, personal attention, anything that feeds their affluent lifestyle. I was also struck by the idea that the daughter didn't want to go to a tradionally Black College. I think she wanted as much choice as she could get without having to give up being in the majority.
So, it appears to me that for these girls, picking a college is sort of like practicing for planning their wedding. Let's face it, they're bored. They have too many options and no needs. The Unabomber was right.
They don't need diversity, they need adversity.
Some Stanford friends came in from out of town with their daughter, a high school Junior (I'm not that old, am I?), and brought along a friend of the daughter's for a SoCal college tour. It's been over 30 years since I had to answer that question, so it was a fun, nostalgic trip. It was fun to re-explore that whole time of life. They have different answers than I did.
So I started asking questions. Where have you been? (Many different schools.) What kind of schools are you looking for? (Smaller, 10-20K, liberal arts, not for hard science or engineering.) Stanford? (No.) Why qualities are you looking for in a school? (A good sports reputation.) Academics? (No.) Party school? (No. We're looking for a school with good diversity.)
Diversity? Like Republicans AND tree-huggers, living together under the same roof? No, not exactly. Mom explained to me that daughter wants a school with a higher proportion of black students than was typical, 10-15% or so (statistically it is 6% or less). Not gimongous and flooded with Orientals (Asians, buttwipe). I see. The unspoken reason for the daughter's preference is because her boyfriend is black (she's not). That's fine by me, of course, but I don't know how that fits in with choosing a college, but whatever floats your boat, you know?
So, I played the game a little more. East of the Mississippi, west of the Mississippi? (Shrug.) I pretty much gave up at that point and Mom and Dad and I chatted about schools. I made some suggestions they hadn't thought of. The conversation turned to other subjects. The evening passed and it was good to have a chance to chat with old friends.
A couple days later, it occured to me that what those affluent, suburban kids were doing was completely different than what I did. I figured college is college, Michigan State was right next door and as good a choice as any. I also applied to Michigan and because I was a good swimmer, talked to several other schools trying to snare a scholarship, but didn't. In the end, I applied to Stanford because my High School Swim Coach said I should. Basically, I applied on a dare and got in. There, I said it.
Now, these kids were choosing a school more to live a fantasy. Athletic jocks, personal attention, anything that feeds their affluent lifestyle. I was also struck by the idea that the daughter didn't want to go to a tradionally Black College. I think she wanted as much choice as she could get without having to give up being in the majority.
So, it appears to me that for these girls, picking a college is sort of like practicing for planning their wedding. Let's face it, they're bored. They have too many options and no needs. The Unabomber was right.
They don't need diversity, they need adversity.
Labels: society
posted by Dewage | 9:52 PM
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