Born on Third Base: Part III
Born on Third Base: Part III
The recent college admission scandal, a situation that's affected all of us, is the perfect example of unequal opportunity. Rich, famous parents that have the wealth and ability to but their kid's ways into college give their kids an advantage to achieve all their goals and aspirations. Chapter 9 of Born on Third Base dives deep into the realities of unequal opportunity among the American youth. Chuck Collins presents the stories of four different young adults that are venturing into real adulthood: Miranda, Marcus, Tony, and Cordelia.
Miranda can be considered the Olivia Jade of the bunch, a girl with wealthy parents that'll graduate college with no debt, internship experience, and no expenses. Marcus could be called the hustler, the guy working a service job throughout college to cover the portion of loans he's taken out to attend college. Tony's never attended college, but he's from a middle-class family that has set him up with the assets necessary to facilitate a financially safe future. Lastly, Cordelia, a daughter of a low-income family that wasn't able to attend college due to the financial danger that comes with it. She's been dealt the hardest hand, as she'll likely be working a low-wage job for the rest of her life. We see all of these situations in real life, and wherever we fall on the spectrum, we all have our advantages and disadvantages compared to our peers.
These four people didn't choose which family they were born into, they were dealt a hand, and some have significant advantages over the other. It's unfair and as Collins puts it, "Imagine a 10-mile race with some odd rules, where contestants have different starting positions based on parental education, income, and wealth." Some people have greater opportunities than others based on their family, and because of this, it's the unfortunate reality that many people are held back from their potential. Just as we saw in the recent college admission scandal, people that were likely well deserving of attending USC, weren't able to because they didn't have the advantage. They started further back in the race and were never able to cover the gap because of their starting position. Unequal opportunity is real, even in the United States, the land of equal opportunity.
"Miranda can be considered the Olivia Jade of the bunch" lol I'm dead!!! I love how you pulled the stories he wrote and compared them to examples we would understand.
ReplyDeleteI love how you ended this reminding us of unequal opportunity. Many of us forgot how lucky we are to have been given so much leverage to be where we are, while others don't have that same luck/privilege.
-Olivia O
I really love how you connected recent events with the book.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think the characters would respond to the admissions scandals? Would Miranda just shrug it off because it doesn't affect her or her conscience in any way?
Ethan,
ReplyDeleteInteresting way of beginning your blog post and connecting it to recent happenings in college. By reading your post, I got a greater idea about how Collins furthers the discourse. It's unfortunate to see that although the US is considered the land of equal opportunity, a huge disparity still exists across different lines. Thanks for sharing.
best,
Angad
Great analogies and connections to the school's current 'situation'. These made the part very easy to understand for someone who hasn't read it lol. The concept of the unequal opportunities is very apparent, the decks are stacked. How do we unstack them?
ReplyDeleteHi Ethan,
ReplyDeleteGood job at bringing up recent events. I feel like many people have made the connection but this is the first blog post which I have seen actually discussing it. I wonder what you think about Dr. Dre's daughter who was recently accepted to USC.
Best,
Dan
I really like how you tie in the recent events with the information provided in the book. It is easier to understand the somewhat obscure concepts when we can relate it to something close to ourselves. Also I liked how you quoted the 10-mile race as it is a physical example where we can see different starting points. Thanks for the great entry.
ReplyDelete-Garrett
It is true that there are strong inequalities when it comes to access to opportunities, and that where you are born usually determines how successful you will be, but rather than being angry at those who have this chance, we should probably focus more on those who struggle to succeed in life, by involving people that can make a difference but most importantly that want to.
ReplyDelete-ghali