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Originally Posted by ghoastgirl1
When it comes to being in school full-time, I'm not going to allow a job to rule when I can and can't go to Spring Break. I need that break off of school in order to relax and just breath. I don't think that's a ridiculous request in the least. I have the mornings to work. Weekends are when I also relax from the week. School part time jobs are very different from full-time, they work with your schedule versus telling you what you HAVE to do. School's stressful and takes a lot of time, I think most of you can recall that.
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GG, I'm not saying anything about your ability to work hard, or what your work ethic is. I don't know you well enough to even pretend to comment on that.
However, since this is a thread about privilege, I will say that this paragraph I quoted reveals a substantial level of privilege in your life. First and foremost, it is a HUGE privilege to be a college student, compared to most people in the world (and even in the US, though of course it's becoming normalized). The fact that you don't HAVE to allow a job to take priority over your holidays is also a huge indication of privilege (I am also speaking from a position of privilege, so I am not trying to judge you, but just indicate something as I recognize it in my own life.)
And lastly, this comes from someone who has been in classrooms for the last 23 years, myself... yes, school is stressful and takes a lot of time, but it's still *just school*. I would say that many of us here (who went to college) look back rather fondly on our college years, remembering how "tough and hard" it all felt to us back then... never realizing just how much more demanding a real job would be. It's stressful and time-consuming to you at the moment, but I can guarantee you that a LOT of people would give up everything they have, to enjoy the level of privilege that you have. That's not meant to induce guilt, but again, I speak from the same position... and it took me a long time to realize that I don't really have any right to complain about my situation.
Someone once told a friend of mine, in college (after he vented about how stressed his classes and homework were making him): "What's your problem? All you have to worry about is school." This friend repeated the story to a group of us, and it stuck with me. It is an incredible privilege to *only* have to worry about school, and maybe a relationship. Compared to what most of the world goes through on a daily basis, in terms of sheer survival, people like us are living in the lap of luxury.
That's all. I hope you don't take this the wrong way. But privilege is privilege, there are no two ways around it.