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Ailyn Maung
Ethnic 21
Hnou Lee
November 7th, 2022

Contemporary Issues #3

When thinking or hearing of the topic higher education, I tend to think about how seeking
or even having the opportunity to pursue an experience in higher education is truly such a
privilege, but just because you have an opportunity does not mean that you will be guaranteed to
succeed.
Higher education carries so much importance, and it is a blessing that we have higher
education. In my own childhood, I never thought that I wouldn’t live long enough to pursue my
own experience in college, let alone I didn’t think I would live past my high school years. Since I
didn’t think I would live past my years in high school, I didn’t suspect that I was going to go to
college so I didn’t have a plan on career choices, interests or any of the sorts. But, overtime with
my living past my young teen years, it dawned to me that college was something I might actually
have in my future. I struggled a lot with my own mental health growing up and I was set back a
lot in middle-high school due to being hospitalized. I was always scared of my success in the
future, and my own capability in college. With time, I motivated myself to start fresh and attend
college, and within this first semester of attending Sacramento State I feel like I have really seen
how attending and having an opportunity in higher education is such a blessing. This first
semester has truly shown me the difference between high school and college, as I truly thought
college would be more assignments, harder tests and nothing more. Ethnic studies has really
shown me the complete opposite vision I had of college, instead I realize now that college may
be harder than high school but they provide so much more resources, not only for student
involvement but to help you succeed. In one of the provided readings Halverson - American
Higher Education: A Brief History, the author states “The proper business of a professor,
according to the German model, was not to instruct the young but to push forward the frontiers
of human knowledge to discover truths that had not been known before,” (Halverson, p. 69.)
This part in the reading is particularly significant to me because it made me reflect more on the
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fact that higher education is the place to learn not only course material but the deeper and true
meaning behind it. Another example I can give is in high school we were only taught the history
of the United States that discussed how white people have impacted the United States and what
they have done for us today. In college, so far in Ethnic Studies I’ve had the opportunity to learn
not only about the impact of white people but people from different ethnic groups in our history.
Learning the things I am learning currently in Ethnic Studies has proved that higher education is
so much deeper than what high school education had to offer.
Another idea I want to bring focus on is meritocracy and how it can affect someone's future.
Higher education and the privilege of getting to go to college is really unfair. I have learned that
a person’s family income and how they grew up can affect their future tremendously. In the
video, “Is Meritocracy a Myth?” uploaded by Vox made me think about how unfair life is for
many people. In the video they play a game called life and after the game is done, one of the
players stated, “Certain people get to start way farther ahead means that it can’t be fair” (Vox
5:39). I believe that people do get to start farther ahead in life and are already set up to succeed.
Right after one of the players stated that, another player stated, “Our positions are also exactly
following our family wealth. You can’t escape your neighborhood, like, no matter what you do.
The odds are stacked against you” (Vox 5:47-5:50). Just like in the game, some people come
from low income households as opposed to people who come from wealth. Coming from my
own history, I am considered a middle class income, but that's considering my mom’s income,
my parents are divorced and I live with my dad. With my dad, I am considered low income, but
it makes me wonder if I had parents who supported me and if I came from a family with a ton of
wealth, would I even be at Sacramento State, would I even have to work in the future, or would I
have been set financially my whole life? I find it very unfair that some people also do not have
the opportunity to go to college or leave home. I believe that no matter what everyone has
potential to be something and I don’t like the fact that people with better financial status are
automatically given more opportunities.
A third idea that I have reflected more on is the future and my future career. To start off, I have
now learned that taking a class on what you want to do is not starting your career. In the reading,
“Job Search: Chance or Plan” written by Mark. R. Ballard states, “Making the transition from
academics to the work world does not begin with writing a resume, buying a new suit, or getting
that first job interview. It begins with thought, research, and goal setting” (Ballard p. 296). In
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your years of college, networking and making connections is really the way to start your career.
Coming to Sacramento State, I came in as a Health Science major. With that being said, given
my want to be in the medical field it’s best to use my resources now that are given to me while
attending school here. As well as shared major upperclassmen friends that I have that can
provide me with job opportunities.