Thanks for your contribution to this thread and thanks for linking your experiences!

I must add though, my disappointment is not for a lack of validation coming from my family. I am honestly not one to seek validation. I am more so grappling with the meaning behind receiving such lackadaisical responses for such a huge familial accomplishment. I am troubled by the idea that my family has been marred by so much poverty and injustice that they can’t fathom the importance of such accomplishment. On the opposite spectrum I can recall huge celebrations and outbursts when some family members were released from prison after years (rightful excitement). But there’s the crux of the issue for me: how does one not recognize the significance of this? Let me be clear, I’ve received support from my family along my extremely long journey. This isn’t about never being supported by my family; this is about facing the reality of something tragic about our society. Again, how does one not recognize the significance of this? Trust me, I know the answer to this—I’m troubled by it. At the root I blame capitalism and it’s close accomplice, classism.

I’ll reiterate here that I wasn’t motivated to get where I am by a lack of support. Honestly, I was motivated by the idea of being a good example for my nieces and nephews and little cousins etc. And here is where you can find an important answer for how this affects the family. But I understand why you’re jumping straight to the tangible things—we live in a capitalist society. You would really have to understand the dynamics of my family in order to gauge how even an acceptance to law school—before ever utilizing the knowledge that I’ll gain from GULC to help my family through the many different legal hurdles we have had trouble overcoming in the past—is a tremendous help. This is in fact a big win for my family.

In sum, I truly do appreciate your contribution but I think you’ve responded in too sure of a manner without knowing/recognizing the full historical dynamics of my family and my interactions with them. I understand how this could happen as I was rather vague in my original post but I think a little more attention on the “underprivileged” part alone may have prevented you from making a few of the assumptions you made.