Income is less of an issue than profession in determining class status in my community. A professor who earns half or even a fourth of what a doctor makes would still be considered in a higher class than a plumber earning a similar income. Business executives, lawyers, doctors, and any other professional designation signals social status in my community. At the same time, students in my community who aspire to be professional athletes, artists or musicians also have a high social status. Athletes are artists are lauded in popular culture and individuals who pursue paths like those are considered to be non-conformists. Being non-conformist is a source of social clout: a way of telling other young people that we are free thinkers and therefore capable of changing the world.

I am happy with my status within my community. As a member of a...

Compared with other members of my community I am neither superior nor inferior. Bringing about a change to my status would involve a wholesale change of values. I might need to press harder for a professional career that would entail graduate school. Attending graduate school would seriously alter my social status and possibly change which community I identify with. The profession I aspire to is more likely to be one that solidifies my current status, as I appreciate the friends and family members I associate with. Members of my community do not all share the same ethnic characteristics or display the same symbols like clothing. However, we bond together on matters of lifestyle: what we prefer to do with our spare money and time.