Many of us, when we think about our histories, do not realize how influenced we are by the institutions are us. Whether it is by religion, class, work, a different institution, or a combination of a few, who we become has much to do with what we witnessed, and what went on around us, how we were raised, and the opportunities that were presented to us in youth. In some cases, these institutions began before we were born. For me, it is a combination of institutions. While many played small roles in my upbringing, as well as who I am today, as I began to sift through my history and why I am who I am, I began to see a pattern emerge in how my parents raised me, as well as how they were raised in their homes. The institutions, identified by their permanence and social purpose, that impacted my sociological life history the most are family and class.
On a macro scale, my parent’s upbringing and subsequent occupations placed my family in the lower-middle class during my childhood. This social structure, or stratified relationship between a large group, was displeasing to my parents, who had grown up in poverty during their own childhoods and, as such, they enforced rigorous demands on me as a child. As a Chinese family, there are sometimes stereotypical expectations to by good at math, good with electronics, and, at times, wealthy. Being poor is not often expected when meeting somebody from a different culture, and even in one’s own culture it is an unfortunate circumstance. My parents did not relish their present, and did not want it for me. They pushed me to be better than them, as well as better than relatives who had preceded me. Typical chores were a part of daily life much like any other child, but preparation for my impending education became another irremovable part of my day. Even after I had started school, my parents still groomed me for grades I had not entered yet. Throughout grade school I was expected to be ahead of classmates because being ahead meant being successful. Though they did not always continue this tenacity, and I was not always expected to be ahead of classmates as my education grew more strenuous and abstract, my parents never allowed me to wane when it came to grades and GPAs. As I grew, I noticed that our status in society had risen gradually. Our change in status may have had something to do with their relaxation in my coursework. My parents had proceeded with their educations, as I had continued with my own. With their educations had come promotions and a higher economic status. However, they never seemed pleased, and made it a point to push me vigorously, both professionally and educationally.
Perhaps their encouragement was rooted in our race. Stereotypically, as mentioned, many Chinese students excel in their studies. This is not always the case. Some children are not naturally inclined toward their studies and some are just naturally interested in other things. To be Chinese is not to be good at math. My parents were both educationally inclined, as it turned out, once they had the time to devote to their studies. They both also exhibited strong work ethic. Though I do not know what their best subjects were, they did turn out to be stereotypical in many ways, and worked hard to improve our circumstances, and set a good example for me. Slowly, our social structure began to change. It appeared they wanted me to show the same natural inclination; I believe it was so I would never have to try so hard to change my social structure at all. At times, however, I simply wanted to be a child, or a teenager. Their constant prodding to study, to be better, and to never stop excelling resulted in severe alienation during a period in my formative years, wherein I devoted a large chunk of my free time only to studying. Though I wanted to be a child, and to cast of the shackles of studying, I also felt the hierarchy, or organization of authority, in my home. There was pressure, and I wanted to please my parents. I still felt inclined to take orders. Though grades were not the first thing on my mind at the age of ten, when my mother or father told me to raise a grade, study, or look into extracurricular activities, I did. As I look back on that period of my life now, examining it from an outsider’s perspective, a cursory glance would have a person believe I was being raised in a strict home, but I see it now as loving. My parents were trying to give me a better future, one in which I would not have to struggle and though I lost much of my agency during this time because of their efforts, I gained so much discipline in areas that have profited me greatly today. I began to notice then that after a time that incessantly taking order had handicapped agency, or capacity to make a choice by myself and act independent from another. I knew many facts in books, but had not lived or experienced much of what we typically all real life.
As I rebelled against some of my parents’ harsher rules during my teenage years, an impractical trait I now see I have grown out of, my parents began to share with me why they worked so hard to instill in me the values that I have today. Before I was born, before anybody in my family lived in America, my family was far poorer than I had ever experienced growing up. Poverty unlike anything I had ever experienced gripped my family on both my maternal and paternal sides. It devastated many family members for generations, and in some cases, members of our family died for various reasons because we were so poor. This we upsetting to hear, of course, but my parents explained they believed if I had a strong work ethic, and was given strong education opportunities and worked hard in school I would never experience those hardships. Though it was frustrating, I began to see even then they were trying to help me escape the perils of socialization, or inheriting what had become a social norm for our family . My social location, or place based on my class and income, would have been defined based on my lineage if my parents had not paid attention to my relative’s mistakes and shortcomings, or the economic discrepancies around us . I would have been possibly been trapped in the same cycle and, had they not pushed me or afforded me the opportunities they did, it may have been a part of the lower-middle class or the lower class concerning my income. Moreover, I would have struggled with my education, as many in my family did prior to my parents and me.
In sum, the institutions the shaped me the most were family and class. My family made it a point to push me based on our family’s history, as well as what they wanted for me and my future. Not wanting me to fall into the perils of a socioeconomic cycle they had heard about, witnessed, and lived through, they made sure that they worked hard to give me a better life by bettering themselves. They also knew I was capable of more than others they had seen come before me, and were capable of giving me better opportunities. They did so with the hope that I would take advantage of them. Understanding they were one of the functioning institutions that could ensure I became a person and wanting to see me make the most of my life, they encouraged me to try my hardest and push forward in order to force me out of a socioeconomic cycle many have been caught in before. Though I struggled through alienation and was unnerved to learn about the long line of poverty I would have to overcome, I realize family and class are institutions that have made me a stronger, more intelligent person. As a result, today I have a solid work ethic and am dedicated to my studies. I take socioeconomic issues seriously, and am sensitive to class issues, as well.
References
Healey, J. F., & O'Brien, E. (2014). Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. Sacramento: SAGE Publications.
Parkin, F. (2013). The Social Analysis of Class Structure. New York: Routledge.
Van Krieken, R., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G., & Maton, K. (2013). Sociology. Boston: Pearson Higher Education.
