On Privilege

Privilege comes in many forms. There is privilege associated with socio-economic status, with being a “man,” with being “white,” with being born in the United States of America, with being born in an in tact family, with being born healthy etc. On my recent trip to Ecuador, I was again reminded of the many ways that I am privileged. The Fulbright Commission of Ecuador organized an all expense paid enhancement seminar for all the Fulbright Research Fellows from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela to meet in Quito to talk about research and share findings. Every aspect of the trip was paid for- from the airfare, to the incredible meals, to the snack packs for the bus rides, to the per diems. In fact, it is quite possible that I was paid to attend this seminar. We even got to do a lot of site seeing, which was also paid for: trekking to a waterfall to go swimming in the rainforest, zip-lining across the canopy of the rainforest, and going on a guided tour of historic Quito were just some examples. It was an incredible experience on many different levels, but the most profound part of it was meeting so many interesting, talented, and brilliant people. We were able to learn from one another, and build strong relationships within the span of one week.

Yet, I was constantly reminded how lucky I was to have this experience. In commemoration of that feeling, I would like to take a minute to trace the roots of my privilege and think about how I was able to spend this past week Ecuador. Its something I think we should all do every now and then as a mental exercise.

Receiving a Fulbright Grant to Peru is a direct result of being able to graduate from Oxford University and by working at Young Lives while at Oxford. Going to Oxford was only possible because of the mentors I had while at Georgetown University. Going to Georgetown was only possible because of the resources that my family was able to provide me to not only attend the school, but also to build up my life accomplishments to allow me to get accepted into the school. The resources that my family accumulated was only possible because of the value placed on education by my grandparents because this allowed both my father and mother to attend higher education and pursue a Master’s degree/PhD. This value that my grandparents placed on education was also passed down to my parents and on to my sister and I. My parents’ hard work and dedication to education instilled a culture of learning from early childhood. In Bangladesh, my grandfather was able to get an education because he was male, while his sisters were not able to get an education. My other Grandfather was the first Bengali to get a Master’s degree from a British University. Thus, a culture of education was passed down to me through three generations. All I can do is continue that tradition and hopefully make my ancestors proud.