4 ms·

My sad wistful feeling comes from being over 60, so it's a bit too late. I did give my kids a better life and that's some consolence. I also have empathy for an

• neilv 5y ago
  Sounds like you're doing well. I think it's OK to occasionally be struck by the idea of mighthavebeens. Sometimes we need to be reminded not to dwell on it, count our blessings, see what blessings we might want to pursue/embrace next. FWIW, I don't know about the subject of this post, but I've spent a lot of time around some of the places where people with the most charmed upbringings congregate disproportionately. People who never had anything bad happen to them are in the minority even there, though they do exist. But it's pretty important in many "success" (very privileged) circles to project that you're also a "success" person, and people will spin their origin stories and circumstances for that. Doing so can be intentional, subconscious code-switching, or simply mood/context. Also FWIW, I think Brown has need-blind admissions now, and (like I imagine a lot of schools lately, now that there's more awareness), an applicant's story about how they got to that point matters. In Brown's case, I bet they still genuinely want diversity of experiences, social justice, etc. (Though a diverse-experiences student applying to a prestigious school will still have to stand out among all the "success" people, many of whom are professionally coached on how to hit the right qualitative notes for admission criteria and perceptions.)