Published on Jan. 24, 2009 in Australia

I first learned the term "white privilege" during my first year in University. I don't remember if it was from a general education class, or from meetings in ASPSU (student government), or in the NAACP, but the revelation has always humbled me.

Today, I had another revelation.

Yan-Shih and I woke up before 7:00am, jumped on the bus, and attended our French class. After class we hurried back to Granville train station to pick up her lost phone, then spent the rest of the afternoon reading in Borders. My mom offered to deposit $50 or so into my bank account for my birthday, but I told her I would prefer just a card (or small gift she thought I would like). In the mail arrived Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. I had already read Blink, so quickly opened this book. If you ever find yourself wanting an easy, entertaining, and educating read, I cannot recommend either of these books enough. I finished Blink in one sitting, and Outliers in two.

Regardless, I realized something talking with Yan-Shih at Borders. I started to think about the privilege from being from a wealthy (or at least, secure) family, compared to being from a less-privileged family. I had always thought successful "self-made" people from underprivileged families, or from secure families that didn't financially promote them after leaving high school (or not much), equally had the right to the "self-made man" claim. What I had ignored was the huge indirect advantage of coming from a secure family. By coming from a secure family you always have a fall-back, which in turn allows you to be less afraid of taking larger risks, which in turn reaps greater rewards.

That's it, my random revelation for the day. Time to code. Much appreciation goes out to Mom for the great read; keep them coming.