Class Matters
My favorite class I’ve taken at Tufts so far was Class Matters with Rubén Stern. This class consisted of the fifteen members of my freshman orientation group and was taught by our pre-major advisor. Twice a week, we would meet in the living room of the Latino Center, one of Tufts’ Group of Six cultural centers, and discuss issues of socioeconomic class. In this class, we learned about how social class affects almost every aspect of lives. Just within the realm of college, social class can affect if and where we get an education, what we study, our likelihood to graduate and our job prospects after school. Within just a few weeks, we turned the focus to our own lives, sharing comfortably with each other about the type of home we grew up in. We started simply by sharing what socioeconomic class our families identified with but quickly moved into deeper stuff like how our parents viewed education and if we thought that impacted what major we were pursuing in college, and whether we felt obligated to get a college education or guilty for leaving our family to pursue such a dream. I was constantly amazed by the diversity of ideas my classmates from backgrounds similar and different from mine brought to the table.
Throughout the course, we had many speakers come talk to our class but one group stood out the most. Towards the end of the semester, a group of current and previously homeless youth from Youth on Fire in Cambridge spoke to us. I have never learned more in an hour. Every stereotype about homelessness I previously believed was broken down that day. They explained how circumstances in their lives led them to homelessness, how they were neglected or supported by those they love, and what the day-to-day life of a homeless child is like. They explained that, often, people turn to drugs and alcohol after becoming homeless because it helps them stay warm. They explained how dangerous homeless shelters are for children and how rare resources just for homeless youth, like Youth on Fire, really are. They were honest. They told us how much a small gesture, like a smile when everyone else is looking away, can mean to someone feeling lost and alone. I have never looked at homelessness the same since and I attribute that to the group from Youth on Fire and to Rubén for making sure they can back for the third year in a row.
Class Matters made me think, hard. I frequently challenged my classmates and they challenged me right back. After taking this class, I feel more conscious about issues of socioeconomic class and more aware of just how much more I have to learn.