http://www.flickr.com/photos/wurzle/ / CC BY 2.0

I have been very privileged and I wonder if that qualifies me or disqualifies me when it comes to giving advice on education.

My parents are well-educated and planned from the beginning to have well-educated children. They put money away to put my brother and me through school. My mother patiently helped me with my reading and writing and my father [a little less patiently] worked through my math problems with me.

Not only did they help me do my homework, but they taught me how to study. They taught me how to take notes and what to look for when reading a textbook. Once I learned these skills, I did my homework without their supervision and only went to them for help.

As a result, I never really struggled. If I didn’t understand something, one of my parents always walked me through it.

I attribute much of my academic success to my parents.

With that said…

Lately I have been wondering if my “privileged” life makes me an unreliable source for academic advising. I wonder if people can even take me seriously knowing that I wanted for nothing throughout my entire academic career.

I wonder if kids who survived the public school system [on their own], made it to college and then had to work with me on a group project were relived that someone was there to compensate for their slacking. I wonder if they would have actually done the work, had I not been there to control. (Being controlling–sometimes it’s a strength and sometimes it’s a curse.)

Last night I told someone to get his head out of his ass. I told him that he made a decision to be in school– college isn’t grade school and he doesn’t need to be there if he isn’t going to take the time to study.  It wasn’t the first time I had said those things to him, but I felt like it was the first time he listened and understood– the first time it meant something.

I have to wonder what changed?

Does the fact that I have continued to succeed on my own two feet make me more credible?

Or was it simply time for him to settle into his reality?

And if it was time for him to settle into his reality, does that mean I’m still not a credible source for academic advising?

As a side note: I don’t find some kind of pleasure in the fact that my academic endeavors thus far have been successful. I actually find a bit of joy in the academic accomplishments of my loved ones. I do love school, so it only makes sense that I would love when people succeed in school!