I failed at life. Do you think Racism had *anything* to do with it?

College Life
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<p>For some people, going to college and doing well academically is a ticket to a better life.</p>

<p>But for some other people, be it because they are socially maladjusted, or because they belong to the wrong ethnic background, or because they speak English with the wrong accent, going to college and doing well academically means absolutely nothing.</p>

<p>I am not a genius, but I have had my IQ professionally measured (Wechsler scales) and in several areas scored in the "superior" range, especially the ones concerning reasoning abilities. My overall IQ, again, is not in the genius range, but it's a significant number of points above 100.</p>

<p>When I was in high school I was an A student and received academic recognitions for my performance. The people who knew me recognized me as an intelligent person.</p>

<p>I went to a decent college and also performed well academically.</p>

<p>Then when I finished college my life started going downhill. Nobody gave a **** about my academic qualifications and all of a sudden I found myself amongst the ranks of high school drop outs and community college graduates.</p>

<p>I remember when I was employed, most of my coworkers went to unknown state schools and some even to community colleges - all my "exemplary" academic performance essentially rendered worthless. I also have friends from high school (who are White) who have jobs much better than mine and that pay more money, yet those same friends were never known for being smart, didn't do amazingly well academically, and didn't go to great schools.</p>

<p>Then I go to see therapists and they demonize me for having a bad attitude. Well, it's kind of hard to have a super happy, super positive attitude when you live in a society that doesn't value whatever 'talent' and 'abilities' you might possess.</p>

<p>I can't mention "racism" because that word irritates a lot of White Americans who hate it when ethnic minorities refuse to delude themselves into thinking that "racism" doesn't exist.</p>

<p>Thing is, I actually believe that "racism" has played a negative role in my life. I am not a psychologist, but I think I can understand how a White person would feel if they came across an unassuming Hispanic young man whose ethnic background makes him look very "working-class" but whose academic credentials probably exceed theirs and their kids'. It's almost like my mere existence feels like a slap in the face and that's probably why they "even the score" by not giving me opportunities they probably would not have refused to an equally qualified White person.</p>

<p>I know that I am going to get a lot of angry responses for saying this, but I actually believe I am telling the truth.</p>

<p>If the problem is that I am not intelligent enough to have a better life/job, how come I did so well academically? And how do you explain my performance on the IQ test?</p>

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<p>It’s not about the grades you make but the hands you shake.</p>

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<p>I’ve administered the Wecshler Scales over 1,000 times in the past 27 years as a School Psychologist. It does do a great job of measuring learning potential, but does not measure a number of characteristics which are essential for success in life. In addition you state that you scored in the superior range in areas measuring reasoning. How did you do on the subtests which correlate with output, such as coding, digit span, symbol search? I’ve tested many students who while very intelligent, had difficulty with output, that is getting things done in a timely manner. This skill is much more important in the workplace than in the classroom. In addition the test does not measure “emotional intelligence”. Personel decision making, social skills, confidence, etc. These characteristics are what others unknowingly size up in others. It appears to me that your intelligence is what made you feel good about yourself & you were able to display it in the classroom in high school & college. You now don’t seem to have an avenue to let others recognize it , give you positive feedback for it, & thus make yourself feel good. Perhaps you are not in the right field for you to demonstrate your intellignence? Perhaps success in this field doen’t match up with your strengths? Another thing you should do is get involved with activities you are interested in, are good at, & make you feel good about yourself. I saw this happen to my oldest D when she went to college. She stopped doping the things that made her feel good, theatre, voice, etc. As a result her college experience was not as good as I had hoped. The truth is that I highly doubt that your unhappiness has anything to do with your ethnic background.</p>

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<p>Do you have specific instances of racism to ask about or is this just a general whine session???</p>

<p>Seriously…</p>

<p>Got ■■■■■?</p>

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<p>absolutely. ■■■■■ post</p>

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<p>“In addition you state that you scored in the superior range in areas measuring reasoning. How did you do on the subtests which correlate with output, such as coding, digit span, symbol search? I’ve tested many students who while very intelligent, had difficulty with output, that is getting things done in a timely manner. This skill is much more important in the workplace than in the classroom.”</p>

<p>Digit span: superior. Digit/symbol matching: average.</p>

<p>"It appears to me that your intelligence is what made you feel good about yourself & you were able to display it in the classroom in high school & college. You now don’t seem to have an avenue to let others recognize it , give you positive feedback for it, & thus make yourself feel good. "</p>

<p>Sadly yes.</p>

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<p>What kind of job do you now hold?</p>

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<p>Programming.</p>

<p>And no, I am not “good” at that job.</p>

<p>The coding is simple. The difficult part is juggling thousands of lines of code.</p>

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<p>What were your Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning Scores?</p>

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<p>Are you the same poster who majored in math or something, lost your job in the computer field and now cant seem to find a place in life?</p>

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<p>^^^ I think your answer is right there. You don’t think you are “good” at your job. Do you enjoy it? If you enjoy it, you can improve. If you don’t, look for something else that would be a better fit.</p>

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<p>OP-- is this you? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1178049-suggestion-all-undergrads-study-subject-will-help-you-find-job.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1178049-suggestion-all-undergrads-study-subject-will-help-you-find-job.html?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^ That’s pretty racist… LOL</p>

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<p>Considering there are people who made something of themselves despite growing up during the times of REAL racism (aka segregation), it sounds like you’re just making up a cop-out. What did you even major in? I call ■■■■■.</p>

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<p>OP, it would be nice if you met people like csdad in college, or perhaps you brushed them aside. Doing well academically and having a high IQ doesn’t mean you’ll do fine in life, minority or not. What’s the difference between you and a successful member of your minority group? Racism does exist but it’s not your blame.</p>

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<p>What race are you?</p>

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<p>You only talk about your grades and IQ scores. What did you do outside of class? Maybe your white classmates didn’t spend all of their time getting high off of their superior intelligence and interned, got jobs, and networked with other people. </p>

<p>If I was an employer, and I was trying to decide whether to hire you or another person (white, black, Hispanic, Asian, whatever) who lined up internships, worked at McDonalds every summer for four years, or put themselves out there and got connections, I would choose the other person in a heartbeat. Working at McDonalds shows commitment and hard work. Internships and networking shows dedication, motivation, initiative, and hard work outside of the classroom. It doesn’t matter if you earned all A’s if you haven’t demonstrated that you can do anything with the knowledge you acquired.</p>

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<p>Oh, and your sense of entitlement will get you nowhere. What makes you think you’re better than any other college graduate? Their college may be ranked lower, but that doesn’t make them a lower person or employee. Graduating from a certain college doesn’t mean you’re destined for greatness.</p>

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<p>My mother’s second husband went to MIT, but lived in a trailer park.</p>

<p>And he was white.</p>

<p>I know many white people who went to law school and are now selling real estate.</p>

<p>I have many black clients from Jamaica, who do fabulously well in America, and their kids all become engineers and doctors.</p>

<p>I doubt, for example, that if you majored in computer engineering, or bio-tech, you would be having as hard a time, be you white, black, or green.</p>

<p>Sure, there is still racism in America, but a lot of life is also luck. I have a friend who did not go to the fancy schools I went to, does not work as hard as me, but is doing much better than me.</p>

<p>The Jamaicans, and now the Haitians, who are now starting up the latter, have demonstrated that you can do well in America even if black. I agree that it is probably not as “easy”, but many do it. Most of my black clients put my white clients to shame.</p>

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<p>So what if it is true that racism has had a negative impact on your life and ability to succeed in the working world.</p>

<p>How does getting bitter and posting here solve anything? Do you think that by having other people agree that racism hurts you specifically will suddenly make those problems go away?</p>

<p>It won’t. You can complain all you want that life is unfair but it’s going to continue to be unfair. Nothing you can do will magically erase prejudice and bigotry. </p>

<p>A better attitude would be to find what you can do to succeed in spite of what is unfair.</p>