In my everyday life back in my hometown, social class is a silent dictator. It determines where you live, where you shop, who you hang with, and the standards you are held to. So growing up, I always wondered why the wealthier were considered to be better than me. I wondered, why when I would tell certain people where I lived, they would automatically made assumptions about my level of intelligence?
I worked a fast food job during my senior year and customers would tell me things such as “keep the change; you can use it more than me.” I would quietly wonder that if that forty cents held no value to them, why would it be valuable to me, and furthermore what can you purchase with forty cents? Then I would continue thinking that what about me made them think I needed forty cents? Why would they assume that just because I was serving them part time, I needed those insignificant handouts?
So being faced with the judgments of those of higher social classes, it has always sparked my interest personally. But having dealt with this issue more than often in my personal life influenced my choice of studies. Where ideally I intended to become a political science major, the behavior of people of all nationalities and backgrounds interest me. I want to understand their mentalities and what influences their assumptions. So I have decided to change to international studies major. Hopefully after receiving my degree, I can apply it to changing societal views and opinions and make matters of class less relevant in the way people communicate with one another everywhere.
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