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Where I left off in December 2019
The Privilege Paradox
Through interviews, research and journey mapping, Sara, who was my research partner and is also Colombian, and I, discovered The Privileged Paradox.
Our research during the Fall of 2019 showed us how our privilege, even though it gave us so many opportunities in life, kept us isolated from the real world, it made us fragile. And, how scarcity may contribute to a more resilient attitude. We also discovered that we have the ability to believe we can achieve whatever we want to, and that, many people that live under harder socio-economic conditions, struggle with this.
So, at the end of the semester I wanted to understand how might we bring people from different social classes in Colombia together, for them to collaborate and learn from each other. 7
I finished last semester with this question, very excited, and again, went back to Colombia for the winter break.
Being there and talking to people about my project was horrible to say the least.
Imagine you are a person who faces many social and economical struggles on a daily basis. How would you feel if someone who had everything in life comes to you and says “I’m fragile, I’ve been having a hard time living in New York City and studying in the US, and I want to learn how to be resilient? Oh, and also, I can teach you how to dream!”
Believe me, that’s not how I would explain my project, but it felt like that’s how they were understanding it. It was awful and uncomfortable beyond imagination.
So I came back to New York in January 2020, and I wanted to pivot away from that project as fast I could. But instead, Lisa motivated me to explore why this was so important to me and who I needed to become to address it.
