One day, one of my friends called one of my professors “privileged” in a condescending tone.  That term caught my attention. The question was, what does it mean to be privileged?

When I thought of privileged, what came to mind was parents providing everything for you, having the money to do things that other people can’t do, and having the money to go to college. I thought about my lifestyle. Am I considered privileged? I work helllla hard for my money, i rarely ask for monetary support from my parents, I pay for my rent and bills, and I worked like crazy for 3-4 months just to go on a 6 day vacation. If something happened to me, I cannot afford to be sick. I was thinking, “hell naww I am not considered privileged”

I reassessed my childhood and how I grew up. I have to admit, I was somewhat privileged, but not as privileged others though. I lived in an apartment, which my mom still resides at. My mom raised my sister and I as a single mother. It was challenging for my mother to go to work and raised my sister and I. She worked the night shift most of the time. When we were at school, she would be sleeping. Anyways, I guess I considered us to be in the lower end of the middle class bracket. I didn’t own the fanciest things. I did owned a few video game systems, a cell phone, a car when I was 16, and a computer(not till high school). I knew I could’ve owned fancy things if I asked, however I knew it wasn’t necessary to have. We didn’t have a chance to go on many family vacations. The vacations I considered were my summer vacations in San Francisco where I stayed at my cousins house and my dad’s house. I wished I had the opportunity to travel to another country, cruises, or go on vacations. 

I am thankful and blessed for having a mother that is so amazing. Now I am on the grind for that better standard of living. 

We all have our own story, why not tell it.