Brooke Evans,
Santa Barbara, CA
I am white with blonde hair and blue eyes and I grew up in Santa Barbara, which is a fairly wealthy town. Because of how I look and where I am from, people assume I am very wealthy, which is not the case. My family has always struggled with money and it has been a huge issue ever since I can remember that has caused many fights between my parents. I also attend a private school with an expensive tuition, so this adds to people’s assumption that my family and I have money. However what people don’t know is that I am attending school entirely on scholarships and student loans because my parents could not afford to pay for my education. The town that my college is in is also very republican, so people think that I am a conservative, although I am very liberal. Despite this, I know that I am very privileged in so many ways because I am cisgender, straight, and white. I am also very much aware that many people have it a lot worse than me money wise and the assumptions people make about me are far less harmful than the assumptions made about people of color or people in other minority groups. It does at times get frustrating when people assume I am a rich republican because that is the complete opposite of who I am.
-Brooke Evans
