My Personal Philosophy #3: The Importance of Recognising your Privilege

Hello, this is Sara here. Welcome to my personal philosophy series! In this series, I’ll be writing about my personal experiences and my learnings from them. Please do not take any of this as the ultimate truth as my personal experiences do not reflect anyone else’s.

What is Privilege?

• A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available to a particular person or group.

I grew up very privileged. I never worried about my next meal, having clothes to wear, or access to wifi. I never really thought about how big of a deal that was until I was in fifth grade. I went with my school, accompanied by my dad, to Cambodia. While I was there, I worked with an orphanage to help paint their school, teach the students English as well as organize fun games to play. As a school, we also went out to the slums near landfills to give out food to the families living there. That experience was etched into my memory. It sparked my love for philanthropy and giving back to those in need.

While I can go on to talk about how many people I’ve “helped”, I’d rather talk about how recognizing my privilege helped push me to do more. I think recognizing how lucky I really give me so much perspective.

My dad was a refugee from Vietnam. He’s been through a lot when he was younger. He had to travel on a small boat for days, sleep on a beach and ration food just so he can make it to Canada. On top of that, he had to work multiple jobs while in college so he can bring the rest of his family to Canada. Just by comparing my journey to Canada with my dad’s, it really showed me how hard someone has to work to break out of the poverty cycle.

Once you know how lucky you are and how hard the people before you had to work to give you this life, you will feel the urge and desire to help others and hopefully provide them with the same opportunities as you.