Landyn Shanks

After viewing the video “People Like Us� and participating in our class discussion, I left the classroom feeling like I was one of few who held a certain opinion about social classes. Despite the opinions of others, I am holding strong to my beliefs. To sum up my opinion as simply as possible, “if there is a will, there is way.� I understand that social class has a lot to do with a person’s upbringing, their parents’ social status, looks and popularity. However, this does not mean people cannot break these molds. My mother grew up in the lower class in the middle of North Dakota, as did my step-father in Germany. My mom sewed all of her own clothes and picked food from my grandmother’s garden to cook dinner. My grandfather was an army sergeant and my grandmother was a schoolteacher. My mom has only 2 other sisters, my father is an only child, but yet still, they were both brought up in not-so-wealthy homes. Today, my family, consisting of me, my 2 brothers and my parents, would be classified as upper-middle or even upper class. My family is a specific example that movement between social classes is very possible. If there is a will, there is a way. My mother worked and saved through her adolescence to put herself through school. She went to the nearest school to her house, and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. My step father moved here from Germany at age 18 to attend college in the States, and was here on scholarship and grant money. Upon meeting and getting married, my mom and my step-father both came out of college close to bankrupt. However, through working with a strong will and determination, they made up their debts and kept us kids well taken care of as well. Today, my mother is a stay at home mom and a yoga instructor, and my step father is the vice president of a consulting company. If a person truly wants to achieve something, and puts 100% of their heart into their goals, nothing is impossible. There was a quote from someone in the video that was “you either have it or you don’t�. I completely disagree with this statement, if you don’t have it; you just need to work to get it. We are all here in college, working to achieve our goals. Granted, it takes a good chunk of money to be here, but with a little work, and a whole lot of heart, anything is possible. It may take longer for some, it may be much more difficult for some, and it may cause a lot more stress for some to get where they want to be, but everything is achievable. Getting somewhere substantial takes a lot of hard work, but hard work is much easier than living in poverty. I choose hard work.