Reflecting on Experience

When I first came to Allegheny College, I can honestly say that I had never heard of “white privilege,” which exemplifies white privilege in and of itself. Like McIntosh says in the passage, (“My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person or as a participant in a damaged culture”) I, too, was never taught about the concept of white privilege. The majority of my high school graduating class was white, so when I first came to college, I felt like I was attending the most diverse campus in the world. Now that I have learned more about racism and white privilege, I have been able to reflect on my experiences more thoroughly.

Because I am studying at the Duke University Marine Lab, I do not feel as though I have really experienced an accentuation of my privilege, especially because the majority of the individuals on the campus are white. However, being member of the Duke University community, I have been experiencing different types of privileges that don’t necessarily focus on nationality. Duke University, being a more up-scale education, often times referred to as the “Ivy League of the South,” is able to provide their students with a lot of different types of resources that many other institutions may not be able to provide. For example, within a matter of 2 weeks, I dissected a squid, a sheep’s brain, a pig kidney, a pig heart, and rabbit muscle tissue. I feel as though at other institutions, even here at Allegheny College, it would be more difficult to obtain those educational materials and would seem like a lot bigger deal than what it was at Duke. Working with these materials seemed very nonchalant and almost as though they were taken for granted. Not only that, but when I was studying at St. John, USVI, we were given the opportunity to use iPads underwater to conduct research– I couldn’t believe that! Although, even being able to go to St. John in the first place is absolutely incredible. However, it’s all relative to the person that’s experiencing it. Although I’m completely in awe about what I’ve experienced so far this semester, others may not be as impressed because they could have been raised that way their whole life.

Being able to say that I’ve studied away and had experience in research/internships is an extremely valuable factor that I can include on my resume. Not only do these experiences teach you a great deal of information about the topic that they are based on, but they also give you more insight on the real world and give you more experience with it…which cannot be taught in a classroom.

Even though I’m still studying in the country, DUML has been very different than my experiences at Allegheny College. Because there are only 22 students and a few faculty members on this branch campus, I do not feel as though we give back to the local community of Beaufort and Moorhead City nearly as much as, say, Allegheny College. However, it could very well be different in the summer and fall semesters when there are many more students taking classes at DUML, but of course, I can only speak for what I have experienced so far. Ultimately, I would say that our knowledge is mainly from the top.