By: Cameron Palmer, SFU Student and Charlie Ruiz, SFU Student
Meritocracy is the age-old myth that everyone has a fair chance at success in life, and those who try the hardest will achieve their dreams. In reality, our society is built in favour of those who happen to be born with privileges. Not everyone has the same opportunities to get the most out of their university education, but sometimes it feels like professors don’t recognize that.
Cameron: As a renter in Vancouver financially supporting myself and my education independently, life always feels like it’s moving too quickly to keep up with. I’ve tried juggling three courses on top of working full time, maintaining a social life, staying active, eating healthy, and taking care of my mental health — it was far beyond my capacity. I’m in my fourth year, slowly making progress towards my bachelor’s degree one or two courses at a time. While this pace keeps me at bay, it’s hard not to compare myself to peers who seem to coast through assignments, thoroughly understanding the material on top of a full course load. I can’t help but feel jealous seeing younger people graduate before me.
But, I have to remind myself that it’s often not a fair comparison — many students don’t have to constantly worry about making money to support themselves, and can devote more time and energy to studying and managing deadlines. Socioeconomic privilege not only “shapes the path to college” but also plays a major role in students’ experiences and success once they’re there. Being able to devote more time to my courses is a luxury I wish I could have. Instead, I’m constantly rushing to complete assignments after long shifts, never catching a break to enjoy what I’m learning about. I wish professors would understand some students might not be struggling due to carelessness or lack of intellect, but simply because they had to prioritize working an extra shift over finishing an essay because food and shelter are basic necessities.
Charlie: I relate to the “not being able to enjoy what you’re learning” thing. The courses I take have so many interesting concepts and ideas, but I’m never able to learn all of them due to time and energy constraints. Being disabled, I work at a much slower pace than my peers, and so I sometimes have to prioritize certain assignments and readings, while skipping others. SFU has not been entirely understanding of that. Professors release assignment and course details too close to deadlines and often will not give you earlier access or extensions out of “fairness.” Sometimes courses expect you to dedicate your entire life to school, but for so many people that’s not feasible. There are many factors that make up student life besides school: work and finances, family and social relationships, and health. Without stability in all these aspects — it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on doing the best you can in school. University success isn’t only made up of hard work, but often many other factors align to shape the experience.
Because of this, it’s very frustrating when professors are inflexible about things like attendance. Some students need to make sure they’re able to pay rent, get food in their bodies, and even have to stay home to take care of themselves. School isn’t everything and professors shouldn’t expect it to be.
I’m grateful to have control over my own finances without having to worry about rent by living with family, but it’s another stressor to have conflictive parents, and “moving out” isn’t a simple solution. In addition to cost, I worry about living alone because my physical limitations make it so that I would have a hard time taking care of myself, all by myself.
Cameron: I empathize with wanting independence from difficult family members. Living separately has granted me a sense of freedom; being able to set boundaries with family is so much easier when you don’t live under the same roof. I’ve also heard of families using money as a way of controlling their children.
Even though I appreciate my independence, I still spend considerable time helping my family with things like accessing resources and applying for government assistance. While resources are available in BC for lower-income people, they aren’t always accessible and usually the waitlists are long, which can cause considerable stress in times of crisis. Supporting my family is also going to come before class assignments, in ways those with higher income may not have to worry about.
I can’t blame anyone for depending on their parents, especially with Vancouver’s high cost of living. For me, living on my own was never a choice and I had to put myself through university for a chance to get a good paying job one day to bring stability to my family.
Charlie: Helping family feels like a form of labour that never gets spoken about! Translating and connecting them to resources is something that can be so time consuming, and, depending on your relationship with your family, difficult to set boundaries on. Students who have shelter, financial stability, and a good home life are definitely free of some of the stressors other students face, and I wish professors would recognize that not all circumstances are equal.
Cameron: Building on this, many professors direct students to external resources for support without actually acknowledging the extra time and effort it takes to use these resources. Most communication classes grade based on writing, grammar, speaking, and comprehension of course content. This gives fluent English speakers a considerable advantage. Non-fluent speakers are casually told to get help from the Student Learning Commons outside of class. As a fluent speaker, I still struggle to comprehend academic readings and put them into words — I can’t imagine how difficult and time-consuming that must be with a language barrier. While it’s great resources are available outside of class for students with barriers, including learning disabilities and mental health issues, professors need to factor in those barriers when it comes to grading.
Charlie: In addition to professors being understanding about various circumstances, universities should be more flexible with their support. Scholarships and bursaries require full-time status and a minimum GPA. This is very exclusive to those who cannot meet the criteria. While SFU allows students with disabilities to apply for these with less of a credit count, the student must be registered with CAL — which is a lengthy and laborious process. Further, SFU notes bursaries “should not be treated as your primary source of funding” and “you may not be awarded a bursary every term.” For students in need of funding, this can be very difficult. It is also unclear how SFU defines “financial need,” and simply applying is another lengthy process.
Cameron: Anthony Jack, author of The Privileged Poor put it perfectly: universities “bend over backwards to admit disadvantaged students, but then, once the students are there, they maintain policies that not only remind those students of their disadvantage, but even serve to highlight it.”
