Whites Only Scholarship

I have recently been looking for funding for graduate school. Anyone who has ever gone to graduate school knows that funding is hard to come by. It is considerably more scarce than money for undergraduate studies. There are no grants offered by the government whatsoever, so any funding that is out there is provided by private companies or by the school’s program itself. In a select few cases, there are government fellowships that are extraordinarily competitive. In short, funding is quite rare.

However, during my search, I have come across a lot of funding that is offered for minority groups, and even more recently, I came across some funding that is only applicable for LGBTQ individuals. After doing some research, I even found out that there are even more interesting cases of funding being given, such as a scholarship for people who are left-handed.

I am not inherently against any of these scholarships. My point for bringing them up is that so many of them exist, but there are only a few (almost no) scholarships for caucasians, particularly male caucasians. The general argument is that caucasians don’t need scholarships because simply being caucasian is a privilege in itself. Being male is also a privilege. Therefore, (male) caucasians don’t need funding.

That argument is ludicrously fallacious. Being against male caucasian scholarships is a form of racism. Just because some caucasians have historically treated African Americans with disdain does not mean I should suffer for their mistakes. Because caucasians historically oppressed African Americans, by extension, all of the caucasians, no matter what age, educational or familial background, have to atone for those sins?

Just because there are a lot of caucasian people in government and in senior level positions does not mean I should be held back just to let other races “catch up” to caucasians. Am I not allowed to have opportunities because there are other caucasian people who do have opportunities? That doesn’t make sense to me, especially because I am not them. I am not a rich caucasian man. I did not oppress African Americans or any other race of people. I have nothing to do with the lives of other caucasian individuals, especially the well-to-do ones in this country.

Therefore, why is there an issue for caucasians to have scholarships? A simple online search for “whites only scholarship” will bring up a multitude of opponents for why these opportunities should not exist. Here are two specific YouTube videos discussing the issue:

So why do very few of these scholarships exist? Is it because of the opposition from people like the ones in those YouTube videos? Is it because it looks better for an organization to offer individuals of color scholarships instead? Is it because there really aren’t many organizations that exist for the advancement of caucasians? I’m willing to bet that is a part of it, and even if that sort of organization did exist, it would be met with a considerable amount of criticism.

Another factor to consider in this debate is whether caucasians are generally more privileged than other races. I think, in some instances, they are, but it depends on the race you are comparing them to, to be honest. Of course, it is also important to consider opportunities on a case by case basis. But for argument’s sake, let us assume that caucasians are typically more privileged than other races here in the United States.

I come from a very modest background, and I know other caucasian males who do, as well. In that sense, we are just as underprivileged as any other race of people on an individual level, which is what is most important. We should, just like many other groups of people, be given the opportunity to flourish. Caucasian only scholarships, like many other race-based scholarships, would not be available to those who already have an abundance of access to resources. They would be available to underprivileged caucasians who want an affordable education through a merit-based award system. They would function just the same as any other scholarship, except they would be available for caucasians specifically.

Honestly, this shouldn’t even be the center of the discussion. Instead of focusing on race, funding opportunities should be focused on giving the underprivileged an affordable education. Just like African Americans would not want their scholarships being given to other advantaged African Americans, “whites only” scholarships are only trying to promote the lives of those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

And that’s what the discussion should be focused on. If a student does not have the resources to attend school, then they should be given a reasonable chance to do so, regardless of race. Race has nothing to do with it, besides being a general barometer for what social class people tend to fall under. It’s not an automatic classification. Poor caucasians should be given comparable funding opportunities in relation to other races.

Actually, from the research I have done online, it seems like most people support caucasian only scholarships. I think the main reason they are not prevalent is because of the poor media attention they get and the people who say caucasian only scholarships are racist (which is simply ridiculous). Also, there just aren’t that many “caucasian advancement” organizations out there. Historically, I would agree that there didn’t need to be many, but as the disparity in social class between different races lessens, it would be beneficial for more of them to exist. I guess it’s just not a popular cause for people to champion, especially if they are looking to gain backers or political clout.

However, in the interest of fairness, I think there needs to be better funding opportunities for all different races of people. Poor is poor, and rich is rich, and that is all that should matter.

Goodbye, Korea: Part 2

This is the second part of my goodbye to Korea.  Here, I want to recap my time in Korea and delve into some more of those resolutions I mentioned in my last post.

Let’s start with the recap.  As I said before, it was a hell of a time.  Most days, I was extremely busy.  My time in Korea can best be described in segments.  From the time my plane landed in February 2013 until about the end of May, that was my acclimation to Korea.  I was spending pretty much every weekend going out and exploring the city and seeing things.  During the week, I was playing volleyball and spending time with co-workers.  I was also putting in a lot of overtime at work.

The second segment of my time in Korea lasted from June until mid-August.  During this time, I was spending much more time outside.  I was doing a lot of hiking and also traveled to Busan.  Other than that, I think I was much less busy than during my acclimation segment, so I was relaxing a bit more at home.  I also had my trip to Thailand and Cambodia in August during this time.

The third segment lasted from mid-August until mid-October.  When I came back from Thailand, I started going to the gym.  Of course, I was still traveling and doing things.  I remember October being a very fun month.  I visited Sokcho and hiked Seoraksan mountain and also went to the Hoengseong Beef Festival.  The biggest change during this time, though, was that I was studying for the GRE, so that was taking up a lot of my time.  The completion of the GRE ended this segment.

The fourth segment is a short one, although very distinct from the third and fifth segment.  From mid-October to mid-November, I started playing basketball outside.  I was doing this along with still going to the gym.  I was also applying to graduate schools.  I was still traveling, of course, and went to Nami Island during this time.

The fifth segment starts in mid-November with me getting sick from playing basketball outside.  This sickness signaled the end of my basketball stint, as it had become too cold to play anymore.  During this time, I started applying for graduate school fellowships.  I also started helping a friend out with some English, which I continued doing until I left Korea.  I was spending more time inside because of the weather, but that just means all of the things I was doing in Korea during this time were indoor activities, which is fine because I left a good majority of them for the colder months.

The last segment somewhat blends in with the fifth segment.  It roughly starts around the end of January but involved me just getting ready to leave Korea.  I was finishing things I wanted to finish before I left Korea.  I visited the DMZ.  I saw friends for the last time before leaving.  I also had to tie up loose ends with work, my apartment and various things of that nature.  It sounds pretty ambiguous, but it was just a lot of busy work, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Now, about those resolutions.  One of my resolutions was to do at least one new thing a week outside of my apartment.  This was to make sure I spent my time in Korea valuably and didn’t waste my opportunity.  During my first few months, this was easy to accomplish.  As I started doing more and more things, it was much more difficult, especially once it got cold and I was sick.  In the end, I technically didn’t accomplish this, but I did enough things over the year that it equaled out to be more than once a week, so I consider it a success.

Another resolution I made was to do my best job teaching and to dedicate myself to my work.  This goes back to that whole commitment thing that I mentioned in my previous post.  It’s hard to say whether I was actually a good teacher, but I did try my best.  I put in a lot of overtime and put my heart and soul into creating all of my teaching materials.  I dedicated myself to my work the same way I dedicate myself to anything else in my life I enjoy, and I truly did enjoy it.  Thus, I’d consider this resolution a success, as well.

Those were the major resolutions I had made before going to Korea, but there was one more that I picked up during my first week in Korea.  As part of my teacher orientation, we visited a Korean folk village and experienced traditional life in Korea.  A lot of it was for show, but some of it was interesting to learn about, especially since it was my first time really experiencing Korean culture.  During our visit, we made little wooden totems known as sotdae (솟대 in Korean).  These are traditional Korean totem poles that were built at the front of the village to ward off evil spirits and to represent the villagers’ wishes for a prosperous and healthy future.

For our own sotdae, we were supposed to write our wishes for our time in Korea on the base of our totems.  We were given examples, and a lot of people wrote the same things, such as “have a successful year” “enjoy my time in Korea” and “be a good teacher.”  Mine followed along these same principles, and I wrote “successful year.”  While it initially wasn’t inventive or particularly significant, I kept it and even have it now.

During my time in Korea, I would oftentimes spot it sitting on my desk, and it came to serve as a reminder to why I came to Korea in the first place.  It was a journey.  It was an opportunity to earn some money, travel, meet new people and experience new things.  Most of all, it was a chance to discover myself.  Thinking about my resolution, “successful year”, I can say, I think I accomplished that.  With all of my vim and vigor, I gave Korea the best I had, and I hope I can continue to do my best for the future.  Thanks for everything, Korea, and here’s hoping we meet again someday.