Interested in stories of people from "blue collar" backgrounds who made it into the "white collar" world?

Question

Are you in America? Was it easy for you, or difficult? Did you feel you had the same opportunities as your classmates in school and college? Are you comfortable visiting old friends and family members? Why or why not? Looking for truly thoughtful answers, as I am thinking of writing a book for teens and young adults about this topic and am interested in others' perspectives (No I will NOT plagiarize your story!). To put it in perspective I am an animal scientist from one of the poorest coal mining regions of the country, and I found that my background both helped and hindered me in unusual ways as I set on my career path.

Answer 1

Well I guess I am the type of person you are looking for. They came into this country illegaly when my father was just 25 and my mother 18. My father did not finish the 6th grade and my mother was a highschool dropout. My father worked in a steel shearing plant, then as a truck driver, and now as an apartment manager. So yes, my background is purely blue collar.

However my father's dream was that his son (me) would go to college. It was not easy for me whatsoever, cause first of all I had no interest in studying (all of my cousins had dropped out and were working), also I had no idea how to go about enrolling in college. I took all the right classes in highschool (A/P and Honor), I had the extracurricular activities, and I took all the right test (1250 in my SAT). However I was not interested in college. It wasn't until my father took me to the steel shearing plant where he had originally worked... working there for three months changed my mind sooooo much.

When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to attend college but did not know where. I enrolled in DeVry cause my friend was going there. Looking back, I know that I could've enrolled in a better school but I didn't know any better. Since most of my classmates were in the same situation as me, I didn't find it that ackward.

However, I graduated and thankfully I got accepted into Pepperdine University MBA program... now that was so hard for me to fit into. My background helped me out in the sense that I see a more humane side of business. However my classmates came from a very different background and it was hard to get a long with them. People were so accustomed to having money that they have no idea how it is living from paycheck to paycheck. Nevertheless, I feel that overall my background has given me an advantage specially in the field of business management. I know the importance of taking care of your workers. I am not the type of guy that looks down at anyone because I know that I could've very easily have been the one working in the warehouse, and I have been told that people like that.

I hardly go visit my cousins, cause there is really nothing for us to talk about. Even though we grew up together, our lives have taken totally different paths so we don't have much in common. Last time I saw them was a family reunion and I felt so ackward. My mother showed up in the new Expedition that I had just bought for her, and I came straight from work still dressed in a suit. I felt bad seeing my cousins and other family members that were struggling just to get by.

Well, hopefully I am the type that you were looking for. If you want, I don't mind telling my story in more detail. So feel free to contact me if you want.

Answer 2

I know people who have had good and bad experiences with this type of change. Family still redneck blue collar while the kids grow up to white collar corporate america. I think it deoends more on the person it happens too and thier family dynamic.

If the person is climbing the ladder and shallow they would look disapprovingly on the family background where a good dynamic of a supportive family would result in a giving and open minded child who sees nothing at all different or wrong with his blue collar family and juggles both worlds effortlessly.

I think in your research you will find both types of people and it will depend greatly on the social dyanmics of the family and the member who achieved the white collar status.

Answer 3

OK, I got married at 18. No college, no job skills.
My wife and went to college, at NIGHT, when we turned age 21. We shared the same class so we could share the same books together. It took us 9 years to graduate. We picked business so we could get promoted at our jobs.
Within a year after graduating, she became a supervisor, eventually a manager. Payroll company.
I work for the government. I moved up to supervisor, then technician with a great office in a government testing lab.
Difficult? Hell yes!
Worth it? Definitely!
Before we went to college I drove a truck delivering meat to stores and she worked in the cosmetic counter at a department store. Our combined income was below poverty!
We are VERY comfortable with a few of our family members; most went to college before they got married. But because we are now HIGH INCOME, they accept us. Before, they did not ever talk to us.
Old friends; None, when we got out of high school, our friends slowly moved away and we never saw any of them again. Even kids in college we lost contact with. Mostly because they were all single and we were married.

PS Poor people are poor because they make NO effort to get a higher education to better their lives. Coal miners can go to nigh school to get a trade, a college degree, just like we did. But they go home, watch tv, and fall asleep in front of the tv.

No it is not easy, but it is definitely worth the battle.
And it IS a battle.

Answer 4

-Yes.. California.
-Difficult.. had to climb through the ranks slowly, and I lost out to many others.. even though I had more experience and did the job better.. but they had the degree and I didn't.
-Yes I probably did have the same opportunities.. I probably squandered time, made some wrong choices.. which affected my job path/future.
-No I don't like to visit old friends.. I concentrate on the Now.. my family, children.. are what's important to me now. Not the "what was, or what coulda been".

Good luck! sounds interesting.

Answer 5

i can't even get into the blue collar world