Work, Money and Class

[Anonymous]

There are often discussions of income disparity on this board and how it relates to children's self esteem. I thought these articles would be interesting..

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/your-money/standout-college-application-essays.html?_r=0

[Anonymous]

Wow. Those were fascinating and eye opening. Thank you so much for posting.

[Anonymous]

All very good, thanks for sharing.

The 1st one though is really good.

[Anonymous]

The first one blew me away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first one blew me away.

By far my favorite.

[Anonymous]

What professors live like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

Your imposing your own perspective of what they must live like. In fact, the author describes cable tv, books, newspapers, a light filled home, nat geo channel, folding shirts, photographs hanging on the wall of a trip to Spain. The most crazy thing is a housekeeper 2x a week, but depending on the COL that's manageable on 2 busy professor salaries. The whole point -- and he does it brilliantly -- is the disparity between their home and what have been his own, w/o ever having to fully describe the comparison. I loved this one, too.

[Anonymous]

The Andover student was my favorite...more than likely will be on kids experience as FA students at one of the Big 3s. Gives me some reassurance that in the end they will be better for the complexity of the experience they had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

I used to housesit for two U of A professors. Their house was amazing. Pool and a room off the master that had a huge sliding glass wall to open up to the backyard with a huge jacuzzi. They could use it in the winter with the glass wall closed. It was a beautiful and funky house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

This is your takeway? Lol

Law, med, and business school professors can do really well: easily 200k +, not to mention consulting fees, royalties from textbooks or other books, speaking fees, etc. Also, sometimes professors can nice perks like free housing (in really nice historic buildings) if they are deans or have endowed chairs, etc.

Plus they get a ton of time off. And obviously there are colleges and universities everywhere, including LCOL areas.

[Anonymous]

Tenured professor is a really good gig, that's why so many people want to do it.

It's adjuncting that doesn't pay well.

[Anonymous]

I think it's funny that you all read the essay and picture a fancy home. Through the eyes of a teenager accustomed to working class life, a home most of us would consider quite modest appears sprawling and luxurious. When I go back home to visit and see some of the homes of the "rich girls" I went to school with now as an adult, they are not how I remembered them. It's all a matter of perspective.

[Anonymous]

The Andover one was excellent and one I could relate to. My mother taught English at a top private school and I was able to attend for half-tuition. The student parking lot had Mercedes, Stingray Corvettes, even a Delorean. Debutante balls and European vacations were a way of life among most families. We drove an Oldsmobile and visited relatives once a year.

Our family had three students in Ivies/Seven Sisters, and one more on her way to a SLAC, plus a younger sibling with me at home. My mother taught at the private school, plus community college two nights a week and all summer long, as well as tutored and proctored for SAT exams. As our siblings moved on to their adult lives, my parents took in international boarding students attending our school who could not be accommodated in the dormitory.

When I would meet kids from my neighborhood or working at my job at the mall, they asked if I went to the big public HS. When I told them where I actually went, they dismissed me about being "rich" and going to a "fancy" school. I didn't fit in at my private school, and I didn't fit in with neighbor kids. It was so painful.

I poured myself into my studies and every opportunity the school offered, and I got a fantastic education and footing for a meaningful career in public service.

I donate every year to the school scholarship fund that supports faculty children. Even at half-price, many teachers could not afford to give their own children the outstanding education they themselves provided to the children of doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs.

I did an alumni interview for a senior at a private girls' school who was offered early admission to my top university who had been caring for her disabled father since the age of 8 while her mother worked 60 hours a week as a cashier at a parking garage. She will be an asset to the university's dorms, discussion groups and campus activities. It's heartening to see young adults with such circumspection on the role of wealth, work, privilege and opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tenured professor is a really good gig, that's why so many people want to do it.

It's adjuncting that doesn't pay well.

In the humanities, we are not driving Range Rovers. I work on the medieval Mediterranean. I am totally bilingual, can read at varying levels 4 other languages including Arabic and Hebrew, and I make $73k. I have a book in a good press, articles, do tons of service for my department, and am a decent teacher. When tenured, I will probably get a raise to 80 something. This is just FYI, not to complain. I obviously didn't do this for money.