PRIVILEGES by Ryan Specht

In my life, I have many privileges that have gotten me to where I am at now. The biggest privilege that has impacted my life was the location I grew up in. I went to a big school that won a blue-collar award almost every year that I was there. My house was right on the boundary of two schools and if I was a couple streets over I would have to a school that is very known for gangs and drugs. The school I attended also gave me the privilege of having teachers that were highly educated and knew what they were doing. If I didn’t attend this school, I don’t think I would be at Mizzou. Another privilege I was blessed with was the ability to walk and athletic genes. If I couldn’t walk I would have never been able to play football, and if I did not play football then I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. Football has taught me many key personality traits that will help in college and later in life. Another privilege that we all have is being American. Being American is the greatest privilege because we have the opportunity to do whatever we please. A lot of the privileges we have wouldn’t be possibly if we weren’t Americans. In other countries, people are not equal or have no freedom, so we have to be thankful that we can control our own destiny. I would say in today’s society equity is implemented by the American dream. We all have the same opportunity to become successful and achieve greatness. I would say some have a better chance of being successful depending on what privileges they have. For example, someone that is born into a rich family will have a much better chance of being successful than some one that is poor. This is because the person with more money can get into a better school and have more to pay for college. I would say that the world is fair to a certain point. It is because everyone has the right to do something they want to do, but if you are born and you are poor or even homeless, then it is a much rougher path to success. Although some privileges are obtained at birth, most of these can be gained throughout life. I am thankful that I have the privileges that I have because it gives me a lot more opportunities in life and it makes it where I can do what I want with my life. I hope that my kids have the same privileges that I have, so they can enjoy the things in life. I hope in future society that equity plays a bigger role because it’s not fair if someone gets straight a’s, but goes to a bad school and can’t get into a school that they want. Overall, I feel that being born into a good family with money can give people these privileges and that people have the freedom to chase their dreams but are harder without some privileges.