Lucky girl syndrome

 "Lucky girl syndrome" is a phenomenon that has been taking over pop culture in recent years. The phrase refers to the belief, or rather manifestation, that things will work out for you. As a first-generation law student, I can't help but wonder whether my success is a result of my hard work or of chance. Am I a lucky girl?

It has become increasingly clear that the schools you attend can have a large impact on your college admissions. A school's course offerings, state test scores, and extracurricular opportunities all influence the way a university might view students as applicants, despite the fact that students have little to no control over those details.

Advantages of magnet schools include specialized curriculum, improved educational opportunities, and valuing of diversity. They have an interesting history and mission of diversity, initially emerging as a desegregation response in the US, aiming to encourage integration by drawing in students from different neighborhoods and addressing their academic needs.

Magnet schools typically prepare students for college, offering smaller class sizes for individualized attention, utilizing a hands-on approach, and allowing students the ability to focus curriculum on their specific interests.

My educational background is not that of a typical first-generation student, or even one of a non-first generation student. In third grade, my family moved across the state and I began attending school in Southern California. The school I attended wasn't great, but fifth grade was particularly bad. That year, I learned nothing, and I truly mean nothing. One vivid memory I have is when my teacher spent three days (yes, three) talking on the phone to her friend on speakerphone in front of the class. I also remember coming home and telling my mom this -- she was livid. 

The next week she put my name in the "lottery" for a spot in a local magnet school. By the end of the month, we had heard back that my name was selected. I won the lottery, literally.

And just like that, the next school year I was a magnet school student commuting thirty minutes every day to the "rich" part of town. My classmates had star-studded affiliations, lived in mansions, and participated in after-school activities like fencing and equestrianism. Class sizes were small, each student was given a school-issued laptop to take home, and the principal knew each one of us by name. It was very different from what I was used to.

I got lucky again in high school. A new school opened five minutes from my parents' house. It wasn't a magnet school, but a "STEAM" public school with three different academies students could tailor their studies to: the Academy of Arts and Entertainment, the Academy of Engineering, and the Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Because attendance was in high demand, this school also implemented a lottery system. Once again, my mom put my name in the running and I was selected. I won the lottery, again.

Here, all my classes were geared towards medicine, the field I thought I was going to pursue. On top of it being the most beautiful public high school campus I had ever seen, by the end of my four years I had a padded resume. In addition to my participation in typical athletics and clubs, this school afforded me the ability to be a certified EMT, I had taken the equivalent of 6 years of science classes, had been set up with a hospital internship, and had cultivated strong, individualized relationships with faculty who could write my letters of recommendation. Even further, the classes were academically rigorous and students performed well on state-testing. My high school is currently ranked 179th in the state. Comparing this ranking to the school I would have attended had my mom not put my name in the lottery is jarring -- 1,078th.

(Note: not everything was perfect. Instead of US History I took a "US Medical History" class. As a law student, I can say regular US History would have been very, very helpful for Con Law classes.)

Image Description: Photo taken at UC Merced. My high school took students on a "college road trip" across the state annually. 

The luxury of the education I have been afforded from sixth to twelfth grade got me into my dream college, UC Davis. Looking back, I can't help but wonder the outcome would have been the same if my name hadn't been selected in those student lotteries.

As one student wrote, it sometimes seems as if our futures are chosen for us by surrounding circumstances. Although I like to believe that my own agency, grit, and determination got me to where I am today, I can't help the sneaking feeling that I had a lot of luck on my side. I then wonder if that luck means that I'm taking up space I haven't earned.

It's hard for me to reconcile these conflicting thoughts. I think the only thing I can do is acknowledge how lucky I have been and recognize that those advantages have led me to an education here at King Hall. The combination of who I am and the forces beyond my control got me to where I am today. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging a little bit of luck helped get you to where you are. Maybe I am a lucky girl, but I'm also a lot of other things.