My identity is comprised of various parts, which are all interconnected. Three parts of my social identity are my ethnicity, my mental/physical state, and my family's income. Regarding these characteristics, I am Indian, I am 18 years old, and my family's income can be classified as comfortable middle class. College graduation rates are affected by a wide variety of factors, one being income, which relates to family background. According to the concept of social stratification, family background/father's occupation has an effect on an individual's likelihood of receiving an education. Someone whose family is better off does no have to worry about making it to college or paying for it as much as someone who does not come from a family of high income. Being part of the middle class also creates a greater sense of urgency for me to get an education, as jobs for the uneducated middle class are disappearing. Age also plays into the college graduation rates; through the concept of communal learning in the US, students learn that the suggested path after high school graduation is college graduation. Although it is not the only path, it is one taken by countless high school graduates when they become 'adults', so to speak, at 18 years old. Someone who is much younger is less likely to graduate college because they are too young and have not acquired the social skills needed to make the transition, while someone who is older may have more responsibilities and not enough time for a degree if they enter college at this older age. Finally, ethnicity can shape college graduation rates; Asian-Americans have placed an extremely high emphasis on schooling, sometimes too high, which creates an environment for students where they are pressured to do more than their peers.
My own personal choices, attitudes, behaviors are conditioned by the broad social effects that can connect how I identify socially to college graduation rates. Because my family is considered 'middle class', I personally do not have to worry about working while receiving an education because I know any costs I do have will be covered by my family, something I am truly grateful for. Because I do not have to worry about working, I can focus entirely on academics and my degree, which gives me more time to study and pursue other professional opportunities. Next, me being 18 years old, the age where many people graduate high school and start college, has led me to do just that: my senior year it was expected by my friends, family, and teachers that I apply to colleges and attend the next fall because that it what everyone my age was doing. Through communal learning and social observation, I learned throughout my life that college was a path that most people my age in my community took, a social norm, so I pursued it as well. Because of this, I am now at an undergraduate at Rutgers University, where I am studying to receive a degree in Animal Science. As an American born Indian, my family and culture places a large emphasis on studying, success, and education. This may stem from the fact that my grandparents immigrated from India, in addition to my parents when they were around my age; they created a life for themselves with little support from anyone and therefore created a better life for me. My parents worked hard and studied hard, and the idea that I must do something with their sacrifices and hard work has been ingrained into my mind. My culture puts a lot of value into meritocracy and earning something by working hard, which is what I was conditioned to do. I am at Rutgers on a scholarship and chose to attend here because I wanted to study at a place where I earned something myself.
