Privileges — Part 1
“I am who I am today, because I was lucky to have been given privileged opportunities.”
I recently got the opportunity to pursue something that I thought as a little kid was of high status. It was something that I looked up to. It was something where I thought as a child that not everyone would be able to achieve.
Now that I’m here, I recognize it was not as big of an achievement as little me once thought. As I reflect on this opportunity — albeit it is still a great accomplishment and a huge achievement that I should applaud myself for — what really stunned me was this opportunity was pretty much handed to me on a silver platter. I was given the opportunity because of my privileges.
I had the privilege to go to a school of my choice (for undergrad).
I picked one 2 hours away from home, but it was central to the region the school was located in, and because of this, many organizations/companies came to the school with “consulting” projects. I did a few. It was a great resume booster. It got me into grad school.
I had the privilege of going to a top notch grad school with a top notch faculty.
Arguably the best in the country. This gave me recognition and credibility to my name and resume. Big names would come to my grad school to recruit. I got into the organization of my (then) dream.
I had the privilege of working at big name companies.
I worked on high profile projects with a leading role. I got the opportunity to hone and expand my horizons, because my mentors trusted in me. They gave me work that were levels above my title because they believed in my ability, and that because I graduated from XX program/school my “bad” would have been someone else’s “great”. I was given the opportunity to work on different projects across different teams, it was like 3 jobs in one. This led me to learning, gaining new skills, and knowledge 3x faster. I now had much more experience and was wiser than anyone else my age.
I had the privilege of having free time on my hands.
This led me to be able to volunteer and serve those around me, to be part of student council, to work on side projects which led me to grow my network. Because of this, people think of me when opportunity arises. This is also how I got to pursue what I am today. It was because I am privileged. Although I worked hard in school and at work, being strategic in my career path and picking which projects I want to work on , networking with the right people, and doing and being the best to my abilities — none of this would have came if I wasn’t privileged.
