Reflections on the Test Your Life Chances Exercise

Reflections on the Test Your Life Chances Exercise

Life barriers I identify with include being accused of lying because of my ethnicity, sexual and racial discrimination at school, and being denied a job in a white-dominated company.

The life opportunity that I can distinguish about myself is that I can use my skills to volunteer in social organizations rather than seeking white-collar jobs that are difficult to get. I can also go to school and work part-time to support my family financially.

I found it hard to answer whether I was paid less or denied a job because of my ethnicity or race because it was somehow difficult to prove this. Another life challenge I faced missing in the exercise was seeking counseling. my peers restrained me that I needed to get my issues together rather than wasting money on things that would not help.

The other life privilege not mentioned in the test is the availability of local social services that have targeted minority populations. They have helped my family and me get health insurance coverage and even look after my grandfather.

I have not answered any of the statements untruthfully.

Life challenges and opportunities may make people change their values, behaviors, and thoughts to be aligned with the presented opportunities or other people’s cultures. Payne (2020) called this discomfort cognitive dissonance. He argued that people could change their behaviors or thoughts towards rejection or acceptance of the person they consider different to restore cognitive balance. Life barriers and opportunities can surprise or shock people because of the new experience and the unpreparedness of their minds towards the barriers or opportunities. For instance, since many people assume African Americans are drug users and violent, I tend to avoid friends using drugs and streets crowded with drug dealers. Also, I see that African Americans have to work twice as hard as Whites to be respected enough that they can work anywhere despite their racial/ethnic identity, sexuality, gender, language, and social class. Becares & Priest (2015) found out that although students from poorer socioeconomic status families have lower aspirations in education than privileged students, ethnic/racial minority students have reported higher aspirations in education than White students. This means that factors such as disability, race, ethnicity, social class, gender, language and sexuality cannot limit an individual in pursuing their goals.

References

Becares, L., & Priest, N. (2015). Understanding the influence of race/ethnicity, gender, and class on inequalities in academic and non-academic outcomes among eighth-grade students: Findings from an intersectionality approach. PloS one, 10(10), e0141363.

Payne, W. (2020). Cultural Power. Human Behavior and the Social Environment II. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Libraries.

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Complete the “Test your Life Chances” exercise (found at the end of Chapter 4 of your textbook) and answer the following questions on a separate Word document:
Here is the link to the “Test your Life Chances”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pOTdOaqjy0LB9PkhwxIt0uBPIhBfzJYQ/view

What life barriers or issues can you identify about yourself after completing the exercise?

Were there any statements you found more difficult or easier to answer? Explain.

Reflections on the Test Your Life Chances Exercise

Were there any life challenges or obstacles you faced that were missing from the exercise? If so, explain.
Were there any life privileges you experienced that were missing from the exercise? If so, explain.
Did you ever answer any of the statements untruthfully? If you are comfortable sharing, explain which one(s)? Why did you not answer truthfully?
How do life’s barriers and opportunities influence people’s lives? What connections do you see among upward mobility and life chances in regard to disability, racial-ethnic identity, gender identity, language, sexuality, and social class?
2)What life advantages or opportunities are you able to distinguish about yourself after completing the exercise?
be sure to answer all the questions completely.