Social Injustice: A Students Perspective
What is your name, major, and year in school?
Allison Ly, Sociology, 4th year at UCSB.
Where are you from, and what was the community like?
I’m from Alhambra, California (near Los Angeles.) It is a mostly lower income neighborhood with a strong Asian and Hispanic influence.
Did both of your parents raise you and what was your family like growing up?
Technically I come from a two-parent household, but I only consider myself to be raised by my mother, although my father lives with us.
Why is that?
My parents are technically married but they don’t act like it. They are partners in some ways and separate in others. I only really talk to my mother and my father and I are not on the best of terms.
I see, so what made you want to become a sociology major, and what do you want to do after you graduate?
While I was in high school I would volunteer at the Parks and Recreation center in town, and I really liked working and talking with the children there. It made me realize how many different types of kids from different backgrounds could flock together and find common ground. While interacting with them and learning their stories I realized I wanted to help underprivileged kids like them and contemplated becoming a social worker. But I quickly decided it wasn’t for me, too sad, that left sociology and trying to make a difference though that rout. I just got back from studying abroad in Singapore for six months… I took sociology classes and traveled, so I was thinking to do re-search and eventually teach.
You said you just got back from Singapore, what did you do there and did you happen to observe any social consistencies?
Definitely. There is a social hierarchy just like there is here. Here it is the Caucasians who are rich and the rest of the people (Hispanics and Asians) have to do the dirty work while over there it is the Chinese who rule and the Malay and Indians who make up the work force. A lot of people are poor among other things… at the same time it’s really a culture shock, I’m still trying to get back in the groove here (UCSB.)
What is your topic for you Soc108f class? What made you choose this topic?
My topic is on the hardships of the families in Isla Vista: the economic statistics and its impact on the family dynamic and on the children’s social and emotional identity. My background and my work at Parks and Recreation drew me to the topic of children and their family lives and how it plays a role in shaping them as a person. Also I wrote an article this year for The Bottom Line Newspaper on campus about Isla Vista Families and the hardships of adjusting to living so close to a college campus and what it’s like to live here (Isla Vista) on Halloween. While re-searching for the article I got a small glimpse into their daily lives and after it was done I felt the need to delve deeper, and found my chance with the Justice project.
Read Allison's article for The Bottom Line here:
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2010/10/isla-vista-families-suffer-halloween-consequences
Allison Ly, Sociology, 4th year at UCSB.
Where are you from, and what was the community like?
I’m from Alhambra, California (near Los Angeles.) It is a mostly lower income neighborhood with a strong Asian and Hispanic influence.
Did both of your parents raise you and what was your family like growing up?
Technically I come from a two-parent household, but I only consider myself to be raised by my mother, although my father lives with us.
Why is that?
My parents are technically married but they don’t act like it. They are partners in some ways and separate in others. I only really talk to my mother and my father and I are not on the best of terms.
I see, so what made you want to become a sociology major, and what do you want to do after you graduate?
While I was in high school I would volunteer at the Parks and Recreation center in town, and I really liked working and talking with the children there. It made me realize how many different types of kids from different backgrounds could flock together and find common ground. While interacting with them and learning their stories I realized I wanted to help underprivileged kids like them and contemplated becoming a social worker. But I quickly decided it wasn’t for me, too sad, that left sociology and trying to make a difference though that rout. I just got back from studying abroad in Singapore for six months… I took sociology classes and traveled, so I was thinking to do re-search and eventually teach.
You said you just got back from Singapore, what did you do there and did you happen to observe any social consistencies?
Definitely. There is a social hierarchy just like there is here. Here it is the Caucasians who are rich and the rest of the people (Hispanics and Asians) have to do the dirty work while over there it is the Chinese who rule and the Malay and Indians who make up the work force. A lot of people are poor among other things… at the same time it’s really a culture shock, I’m still trying to get back in the groove here (UCSB.)
What is your topic for you Soc108f class? What made you choose this topic?
My topic is on the hardships of the families in Isla Vista: the economic statistics and its impact on the family dynamic and on the children’s social and emotional identity. My background and my work at Parks and Recreation drew me to the topic of children and their family lives and how it plays a role in shaping them as a person. Also I wrote an article this year for The Bottom Line Newspaper on campus about Isla Vista Families and the hardships of adjusting to living so close to a college campus and what it’s like to live here (Isla Vista) on Halloween. While re-searching for the article I got a small glimpse into their daily lives and after it was done I felt the need to delve deeper, and found my chance with the Justice project.
Read Allison's article for The Bottom Line here:
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2010/10/isla-vista-families-suffer-halloween-consequences