a cultural, sociological summary in a bizarre little essay
(after being really nervous about starting university online, i wrote this essay for the first ever assignment i had in my sociology class... i feel like its a small summary of the cultural background i have - and it's a nice reminder of how i analysed it through the small introduction to sociology)
In the opening scenes of the 1988 movie “Cocktail”, we see a young Tom Cruise fresh out of the army and into the fast-paced business world of New York. While looking for a job, there is a montage of job interviews with each of the interviewers telling poor Tom something along the lines of “Go to college” or “Get a degree first”. Though times have evolved since 1988, I think that the influence I had in making my decision to go to college was one based on a 1988 mindset.
In examining the interactions I’ve had with my parents concerning the decision to go to college, I realize the conversation was not forcing me in a direction, rather, allowing me to choose a path. This symbol of choice rather than instruction is something I would consider a privilege, particularly in comparing it against my parents’ Sri Lankan childhoods. My mum was midway through her social psychology degree when her parents decided that starting a family ranked above education for her age and gender, and my dad received a half-scholarship to NYU but his parents were unable to pay the remaining fees. These two stories are what my parents consider the reason why they want to support me through any path I choose. In observing the “Sri Lankan childhood” I mentioned earlier, the stereotypical Asian parent jumps out at me to say “either doctor, lawyer or engineer” and “must have a masters’ degree”. In comparison, the community I was raised in was one of a third-culture kid: born in Abu Dhabi, having my primary and middle school years in a French International School in Jakarta, all while being two years younger than my grade. Learning French from square one as a 5 year old in Grade 2, I found myself in an environment that gave me an open-minded and perspective-filled view of the world, which I believe defined how curious I grew to be. Whether it comes to spending hours talking about music with my dad or learning how to make cannelés with my mum, I knew that after high school I wanted to fulfill the path my parents were not able to take, seize the opportunities they were giving me, continue to learn and in the process tick the box that 1988 “Cocktail” Tom Cruise did not - going to college.
Looking at a Sri Lankan female who is 2 years younger than her cohort and speaks 5 languages (none of which being Sinhalese, the language of my ethnic community), I believe this information has held both positive and negative consequences on my life. Ever since the fifth grade with my English teacher pointing his finger at me and saying “You don’t belong here”, to simply not getting enough volunteer hours on my college application because of organizations’ age restrictions, I’ve been judged based on both the color of my skin and age. Despite this, I’ve tried to hold the functions higher than the dysfunctions, especially through the process of deciding whether college was the correct path. This meant I was demonstrating all of what I strived to achieve in high school: getting an IB Bilingual Diploma and a plethora of language certifications, finding sports and clubs I was interested in, such as horse riding and the photography club. Initially, education was defined as this manifest function, to develop deeper interests in subjects learned as well as aid the process of CV-writing. However, I would consider the final, more latent function of my decisions surrounding college, to be proving any discrimination or judgments I had run into - wrong. I feel if I were two years older or simply in the correct age-appropriate year, I would have more opportunities. I think that simply “being the correct age” for someone to be going to college, would’ve dictated a part of my experience surrounding education. However, the leftover facts of being both brown and female, I imagine there is still leeway for prejudice. Submitting an application with the last name Gunasekera on it, there still is time for the thought of “Oh. She’s foreign!” to set into an admission officer’s mind. I think my path of becoming a college student today would’ve been slightly easier with a last name like Green or Graham. Transporting myself into a different time altogether, I wouldn’t have even had a chance at an education if I weren’t a white male.
Though I know that there are a lot of personal choices I could’ve made differently, other paths I could’ve picked, in applying the sociological perspective - I now understand the larger social forces that have pushed me toward proving people wrong and walking down the path that I did.