I used to think that I could make any difficult situation work. My confidence did not come from thin air. I grew up in a low-income city where students brought guns into the school; I had childhood cancer and underwent two years of chemotherapy; I applied and got a summer job to teach middle school students mathematics when I was 14. I faced all these challenges head-on, and they have helped me grow into a better person.
So I did not think much when tasked with handling another difficult situation in a LIFTopolis simulation. However, as I tried alone to navigate being an Algerian immigrant with three kids on a salary of barely $12,000 a year, I realized how unprepared I was. I didn’t know where to begin applying for benefits, was totally lost on how to plan for the next day, and was forced to choose between feeding my kids or paying the utility bill. Without any guidance, I finally gave up.
When we regrouped, I told one of my friends how impossible my situation was. He said I actually had it easy. He was given a simulation of a person who was a convicted felon, mentally ill, homeless, and drug addicted, with only a total of $500 to their name. It was hopeless. He had given up before the end of day one.
The LIFTopolis experience let me step into the real struggles of many everyday Americans. It brought me a humbling realization that my growth did not just come from facing challenges, but also from tons of kind support and encouragement I received along the way. For those trapped in poverty, to escape is often not a question of how hard they need to work but how many opportunities and resources are made available to them. We all can provide a helping hand to break vicious cycles of learned helplessness in those situations and empower people who are less fortunate to lift themselves out of poverty.
Franklin Chen is a Senior at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Massachusetts