Social Class and Poverty

For the past week in class we focused on social classes, and we discussed poverty. Living in a generally privileged and wealthy area, it is easy to get a misconception of what is poverty and the kinds of people that face poverty. Based on the activities in class and watching the beginning of 30 days, I realized that it is very difficult to be poor. It requires lot of sacrifices of luxury and sometimes necessities. Also, it is extremely difficult to get out of the poverty level. As we saw through our "life happens" activity in class, small obstacles create major setbacks in savings for those living in poverty. It does indeed seem that "the poor and getting poorer". However, what I was exposed to in class sometimes contradicts with my own experiences. My parents immigrated to the US when I was two years old. They were poor, they had very little money, and they didn't even know the language! How were my parents and the rest of my family able to achieve the success and position they are in today? Maybe it was the connections and supports of the Russian community that pushed them up in social class and wealth. It's just that from class I learned that getting out of poverty takes more than will power. It requires a lot of assistance from others and LUCK. However, from my family I learned that with the right goals and work ethic. you can achieve anything.