The Many Perspectives I’ve Encountered at Berkeley

Please note that all names used in this article are fictionized for privacy purposes.

I’ll be entering my third year here at UC Berkeley and I can definitely say I’ve met many interesting people here. Berkeley is full of people from all walks of life, and I’ve learned so much from the perspectives of people I call friends. Many of these perspectives overlap and contradict each other, but that’s what make it real… they are complex like life itself.

Here are some perspectives I’ve encountered at Berkeley:

Let’s start with mine. Here’s a bit about my background, experiences, and perspective.

Kail (Me): I’m a Filipino American that grew up in a majority white, upper middle class suburban neighborhood in SoCal. I had a privileged and comfortable childhood, coming from well-funded schools and little to no crime. I would say I grew up in a bubble, and Berkeley is where my bubble popped. My parents grew up very differently from me. They grew up low-income in the Philippines, with both coming from families that worked as agricultural workers. My mom immigrated with her parents to the Central Valley to pick grapes at 13 and now works in the mortgage industry. My dad grew up harvesting rice with my grandpa everyday after school, went to college for electrical engineering, and eventually immigrated to the USA to work. My parents emphasized upward social mobility and the American Dream to me growing up, so I grew up believing in it and in meritocracy (the idea that one’s hard work will equate to more financial prosperity). I realize now that while it was true for my family, it is not true for many people that I’ve met. I used to work at the Chipotle here in Berkeley my freshman year and many of my coworkers were Berkeley students. I once told a coworker that America is filled with endless opportunities as long as you work hard for it. My coworker laughed at me and said that’s true only if you’re privileged. I quickly learned that most of my coworkers at Chipotle came from first-gen, low-income Latino families with some having parents that are housekeepers, waiters, and construction workers. Their parents do much harder labor than my parents, yet get paid significantly less. How could meritocracy be true if those that work the hardest make the least? Meeting fellow Berkeley students and working with them at Chipotle broadened my perspective, and encouraged me to think critically about how society works as a whole. I soon became fascinated by how socioeconomic factors impact one’s perspective on almost everything in life.

This led to me choosing Econ & Psych as my majors, because I find them insightful in understanding why people and society is the way it is. I realize that one’s socioeconomic background impacts one’s upbringing, education, and opportunities one has in life, which shape one’s beliefs, perspectives, and behaviors as an adult. Living in Berkeley changed my perspective, and I have grown so much from it.

Here are other fascinating perspectives I’ve encountered at Berkeley:

Jake: Filipino-American that grew up with expat parents, moving from the Bay, to Germany, and to New Jersey. He grew up feeling like there was no home or roots connecting him to the US or anywhere. He aspires to move back to Germany in search for a home.

Kevin: A coworker I worked with at the Chipotle off Telegraph in Berkeley. He grew up in East Oakland, seeing many of his cousins turn to a life of theft, violence, and gang affiliation. While he never joined a life of crime, he taught me that many criminals do what they do because of a few reasons: financial desperation, belonging, boredom, and because it’s all they knew growing up. He changed my perspective on criminals. I used to see people as either good or evil. He made me understand that there’s so much in between.

Daniel: My freshman roommate from the dorms. He grew up in an inherited house in Berkeley. He told me that his family is low-income and most of their earnings are from renting out rooms in their house. He was always absent from the dorms because he was juggling 3-4 jobs while being a CS student to help support his parents.

My current international roommates: I live in an apartment w/ 4 international students of Indian descent, with me being the only American. Two are from Mumbai, one is from Singapore, and one spent years of his childhood in Canada but moved to SoCal for high school. They are the sons of entrepreneurs or high level executives with one being the son of the owner of a pharmaceutical company. It was a culture shock to learn of the wealth my roommates had. I overheard them talk about things they found normal: one spoke about private jets being cheap, one told me $600 was normal for a night at a hotel, and one told me that I should quit my part-time job because “people don’t work in India and only do internships”. They came from international schools as expensive as Berkeley tuition, and their ignorance of the wealth disparity in their home countries and here in the student body disturbed me. They are great, fun people, who were often very generous, but it was definitely a difficult transition living with them. I realize that they are truly just products of the environment they grew up in. They were not out of touch because they are horrible people. They just didn’t know any better.

Sarah: an international student from the Philippines. I originally thought she’d be like my roommates and spend money frivolously and be out of touch with reality, but I quickly learned that her parents make her pay rent and groceries from her earnings from her on-campus job.

At Berkeley, I quickly learned that people’s lives and circumstances are more complicated than what meets the eye. If you end up going to Cal, I encourage you to step out of your bubble and learn about those around you. Start a conversation. You don’t know what you’ll learn. Berkeley’s academics is world-class, but I’d argue that the biggest learning experience you’ll have here is from learning the perspectives of the people around you.

After graduation, you won’t remember what your calculus professor taught you about integrals from the past midterm, but you’ll remember what your calculus study buddy told you about their childhood.

Truly, the Berkeley education doesn’t stop outside of the classroom. That’s what makes Berkeley special to me.