All That Glitters
This is about the recent college admissions scandal. The motivation for writing these blog posts comes from a number of different perspectives.
First, I'm writing because I'm a mom of a college-bound athlete and a senior at a very prestigious college. We actually live at the Federal Poverty level. We don't have either the power or privilege to manipulate our way into college admissions, and yet we find ourselves in a position of interacting with people who have both power and privilege. Interactions with some of them have been very insightful.
Second, I'm writing because I'm a fledgling development practitioner who has recently realized my passion and call to advocate for justice.
Finally, I'm writing as a follower of Jesus who sees the intersection of my work as a full-time staff member for an evangelistic organization with the underlying issues that could have driven powerful, wealthy people to engage in illegal and inappropriate, and I'd say unnecessary manipulation.
As a mother of both a scholar and an athlete, I'm very familiar with the reality that many parents live vicariously through their children. Whether bragging about academic or athletic achievements, many parents see their children's performance as part of their "claim to fame." It often appears that a parent's self-image is dependent on how their child performs.
On the court, it means parents yell at kids over less-then-excellent performance. Coaches can yell at kids, too, pressured to have the best record because of how much is riding on wins and losses. The focus becomes performance rather than character development, and valuing people based on performance is not the best way to develop great character.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in the bleachers and overheard parents bemoaning their kids' performance. One mom, after a particularly bad game, was so upset she couldn't even talk to anyone! Though coaches always say athletics at the amateur level are more about developing character than winning, the reality is, many parents really just care about winning.
In our case, we didn't have the financial means to invest in club sports. Our daughter didn't start playing basketball or volleyball until she was in 8th grade, and she only started then because she really wanted to. She worked very hard to improve and earned her spot on select clubs and varsity high school teams. She was highly sought after by college coaches and is going to college on a volleyball scholarship. But she worked very hard. And we've always been more excited about her discipline and diligence than whether she won or lost. Our value doesn't depend on our daughter's performance. Neither does our daughter's. And because of that, we can celebrate her successes without being devastated by her short-comings.
How, you may be asking, does this relate to the college scandal? I think, in part, the parents who spent thousands of dollars on getting their children into elite colleges did it not for the benefit of their children, but for their own self-image.
In a sense (and this is me wearing my justice hat) parents were exploiting not only the system, but their own children, for selfish gain.
Could it be that in the world of high finance, wealth, and prestige, there is more poverty and brokenness than we realize? If you're like I was before beginning the #MAGDJ program at Multnomah University, the word "poverty" doesn't seem to fit. Check back for the next piece in this series and maybe you'll understand more.
In the next part of this series, I'll share what may be a different perspective on poverty, not only trying to explain how justice intersects with this whole college admissions scandal, but also why it's such a big deal.
First, I'm writing because I'm a mom of a college-bound athlete and a senior at a very prestigious college. We actually live at the Federal Poverty level. We don't have either the power or privilege to manipulate our way into college admissions, and yet we find ourselves in a position of interacting with people who have both power and privilege. Interactions with some of them have been very insightful. Second, I'm writing because I'm a fledgling development practitioner who has recently realized my passion and call to advocate for justice.
Finally, I'm writing as a follower of Jesus who sees the intersection of my work as a full-time staff member for an evangelistic organization with the underlying issues that could have driven powerful, wealthy people to engage in illegal and inappropriate, and I'd say unnecessary manipulation.
As a mother of both a scholar and an athlete, I'm very familiar with the reality that many parents live vicariously through their children. Whether bragging about academic or athletic achievements, many parents see their children's performance as part of their "claim to fame." It often appears that a parent's self-image is dependent on how their child performs.
On the court, it means parents yell at kids over less-then-excellent performance. Coaches can yell at kids, too, pressured to have the best record because of how much is riding on wins and losses. The focus becomes performance rather than character development, and valuing people based on performance is not the best way to develop great character.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in the bleachers and overheard parents bemoaning their kids' performance. One mom, after a particularly bad game, was so upset she couldn't even talk to anyone! Though coaches always say athletics at the amateur level are more about developing character than winning, the reality is, many parents really just care about winning.
In our case, we didn't have the financial means to invest in club sports. Our daughter didn't start playing basketball or volleyball until she was in 8th grade, and she only started then because she really wanted to. She worked very hard to improve and earned her spot on select clubs and varsity high school teams. She was highly sought after by college coaches and is going to college on a volleyball scholarship. But she worked very hard. And we've always been more excited about her discipline and diligence than whether she won or lost. Our value doesn't depend on our daughter's performance. Neither does our daughter's. And because of that, we can celebrate her successes without being devastated by her short-comings.
How, you may be asking, does this relate to the college scandal? I think, in part, the parents who spent thousands of dollars on getting their children into elite colleges did it not for the benefit of their children, but for their own self-image.
In a sense (and this is me wearing my justice hat) parents were exploiting not only the system, but their own children, for selfish gain.
Could it be that in the world of high finance, wealth, and prestige, there is more poverty and brokenness than we realize? If you're like I was before beginning the #MAGDJ program at Multnomah University, the word "poverty" doesn't seem to fit. Check back for the next piece in this series and maybe you'll understand more.
In the next part of this series, I'll share what may be a different perspective on poverty, not only trying to explain how justice intersects with this whole college admissions scandal, but also why it's such a big deal.
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