On the way to the school in rural Korea, Ayesha and I talked about the buddy topic regarding what privileges and challenges we have. We both talked about how we felt privileged to be fluent in the English language, as it allows us the most international access of any language. Being brought up learning English was very fortunate, rather than having to learn it later in life as a second language in which it is tougher. We also talked about education and the large emphasis on higher education in the United States. While schools in the US cost much more money than other countries, at least compared to Korea and Taiwan, they also are more technologically-equipped and provide strong curriculums. Many of the top-ranked schools in the world are within the US, showing the educational advantage of having these schools readily available to us.
Another undeniable privilege of mine is being Caucasian and male. Unfortunately society has allowed for there to be a discontinuity in various aspects of life between Caucasian males and other races/genders; for example, Caucasian males tend to earn more money in their jobs compared to others. While I am able to benefit from this privilege, others do not have the same luck, and their race or gender could be seen as a challenge to them. To deal with this challenge, people advocate for social justice and equality amongst races and genders, hoping for a change to come.
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