Unequal Childhoods - Annette Lareau [163]
Alexander says he has been planning to be a doctor for many years. When he began looking seriously at colleges, he very much wanted to be admitted to a special eight-year combined undergraduate and medical school program offered at Columbia University. He applied to Columbia under an “early decision” provision that would require him to attend the school if he were offered admission. He had earned almost all A’s in high school and, although he felt that he “could have done better” on the SAT, his combined score of 1350 [2030] was strong. This record led his mother to be “pretty sure I would get in,” but his father questioned the wisdom of the early decision strategy. “My Dad was wondering why I hadn’t applied anywhere else,” Alex notes. Fortunately, the single-application gamble paid off. He got into Columbia and its special eight-year program.
When I ask how college has worked out, Alex responds, “I love it.” He reports receiving B’s in nearly all of his courses (Columbia does not offer plus or minus grades). I probe his feelings about these grades and wait while he sits quietly, pondering. Speaking slowly, he says, “I could have done better. But still, I don’t have any regret. I enjoyed myself. I think that I studied a lot. I know I studied a lot.” His father is less content. As Alex puts it, “He knows that I know that I could have done better.”
Reflecting on his freshman year experiences, Alex mentions that the transition to college has been difficult for some of his African American peers: “Some people came from all-Black high schools and they experienced shell shock.” “It wasn’t such a shock [for me]; my high school [was] predominantly white.” He is not active in any of the African American groups on campus, in part because “it can eat up all of your free time.” When I ask whether Alex has been followed around in stores, he grimaces and replies, “Oh yeah, there is nothing you can do about that . . .” In answer to how often he must contend with this problem, he says, “It doesn’t happen that much,” estimating that he is harassed this way a couple of times per month.
Alex drives but does not have his own car. He seems unworried about finances. His parents, whose careers have continued to prosper, give him money, and he also has his own bank account. Alex is anxious to travel and is excited about an upcoming trip to California to visit his girlfriend. He seems content and optimistic about the future.
Youths from Working-Class Families
At twenty, Wendy Driver (white, working-class) is a tall, thin, fresh-faced mother, with an eighteen-month-old daughter, Clara, and a soon-to-be-born son. Wendy’s husband, Ryan, is in the Navy; his submarine job keeps him at sea six months at a time. She became pregnant the fall following her high school graduation, just prior to Ryan’s (already planned) marriage proposal. As a Catholic, Wendy did not consider abortion (“I think abortion is wrong,” she explains). She longed for a big wedding, but she and Ryan “wanted to get married [right away] for the baby.” Her parents helped her arrange two weddings: a small one when she was three months pregnant, and a large, elaborate one when Clara was a year old. Wendy and I meet at her parents’ house, which is about four hours away from her house. When Ryan is gone, she and Clara spend as much time as possible with her parents. Wendy does not drive. She depends on public transportation or relies on her father to facilitate these visits.
Thanks to her grandfather, who paid the $3,000 annual tuition, Wendy attended St. Mary’s, the same all-girl Catholic high school her mother and sisters had attended. This was a great relief to Ms. Driver. She had been extremely concerned about the possibility that Wendy would have to go to the neighborhood high school, Lower Richmond, which has a very poor reputation among the locals. At St. Mary’s, Wendy thrived socially as part of a close-knit group of girlfriends. She worked two jobs (to cover expenses for her cell phone, some clothing, and part of the family’s cable bill) and was involved