Social Mobility Dream
SOC/100
August 26, 2013
Social Mobility Dream
The American Dream is a term that is commonly herd in the United States. What it is commonly used for is people coming to the US legally or illegally to make more money and have a higher quality of life. Better jobs or better schools to attend, better government and, religious freedom. There are more than just the American dream for non-Americans. The American dream applies to every person trying to get a new job, new house, or new car. I am living proof that social mobility exists and I will explain why in this paper.
There are different ways to have social mobility. There are people that move up, the people that move down, and the people that move parallel. According to Schaefer (2011), The people that move up and down in prestige ranking for a specific job is called vertical mobility. The people that move parallel in prestige ranking are termed as horizontal mobility. There are also two types of vertical motilities. Intergenerational mobility is the success, or lack of success compared to your parents. Intragenerational mobility is the changes in social position within your life span (Chapter 8). Since the age of 18, I have experienced vertical mobility as well as intergenerational and intragenerational mobility.
After graduating high school I tried to be a professional bum, meaning all I did was hang out with friends and did not have any responsibility. My parents were divorced and my Mother let my current profession of being a bum last all of one summer. My first job was an entry level position of a seasonal package handler at United Parcel Service. I had the ambitions of becoming a full-time driver for the company one day. After about eight months of being a package handler my manager approached me and offered me a part-time supervisor position. Knowing once I went into management I would never have an opportunity to become a driver any more I turned the offer down. After doing some research and learning that the Teamster waiting list to become a driver was over six years I thought to myself did I really want to work inside the building for six years before having the chance to get out? With that new bit of information I decided to take the management position. With the new level of income I was able to move out of my Mothers house, my first step of being successful. The next step I took was purchasing a new car with no assistance from anyone at the age of 21. After five years of being in the part-time position of management UPS offered me a position as a full-time supervisor. This step doubled my income and placed me earning more income than my parents ever had and I was only the age of 23.
My Mother has a degree and was working at a processing center of a bank for many years. She decided to quit when I was eight so she could spend more time with me. She then started her own childcare business and never made what she did at the bank. Still made enough to pay the bills and support her and I so there were no complaints from her or I. My father had no college education but was in the Navy. When he retired from the Navy he worked as an inconsistent trucker working enough hours or days to get him and our family through the year.
In this year I decided to do the same as my Mother and quit my job to spend some time with my newly started family. I gave up a $79,000 a year job with no degree to do so. Unlike my Mother I have recently acquired a new job working less hours and making $11,000 more a year. I am currently enrolled in school to find either a higher position in my new workplace or to find a higher position in a new company. I am doing this to make sure I can provide the best of everything to my family so they will