Notes about privilege
By: Manuel Cardenas
Tags: Privilege, Opportunity

Last semester, even with the uncertainty of covid, was my best one so far. Never had I learned and met so many motivated people in such a short time period. The reason for it is because I was accepted to CDTM, an add-on honorary program with a focus on entrepreneurship of the two main universities in Munich (in one of which — the TUM — I study). And I am extremely grateful for having this opportunity.

Now, this post is not about what I learned during the semester, or a recommendation to apply to CDTM, or a flex about what I’ve done so far. This post is about a feeling that I have been having for a while already that I must get out. To explain it, I will provide you with a bit about my past, then a bit about my future, and lastly a call to action. So, if you have made it so far already, please read this entry until the end. I will give my best to make the next 5 minutes worth your while.

The bit about my past

I moved to Germany from Bogotá, Colombia about three years ago to study computer science in the TUM. I was following the steps of my older brother who also came to Germany six years before me. Studying in Germany was possible mainly because I wrote the Abitur (the German exam to enter higher education) in a German school in Colombia.

When I introduce myself here in Germany I always get asked why I went to a German school. And to be honest that is a question that I also pose to myself. I had the luck of being born in a family that could afford a private school, and the German school was simply one of the best ones in Bogotá. I don’t know why life decided that I should have the opportunity to write the Abitur. In any case, I am extremely thankful for it.

But I also feel the injustice of it. I could have been born a couple of streets further south and my future would have been completely different. Most people in Colombia must work after school to support their families. Many teenagers end up having children early, forcing them to work extremely hard and in very difficult conditions. I was spared from such a future only because I had the support of my family. Hearing “you made it so far” gives me therefore a chill. Yes, I have probably worked harder than others. But mostly I have been just lucky.

That is the bit about my past that I wanted to share: that I am extremely lucky. I am incredibly privileged and I simply don’t understand why.

The bit about my future

Of course, it is not about understanding. Nobody can answer why my life has been the way that it is. In other words, why I’ve been so lucky. Feeling bad for having better opportunities than others does not help anyone. But something that I can certainly do is choose my future having this privilege in mind.

This is why I want to, after finishing my studies, work for those that did not have the same luck that I did. And especially work in giving opportunities to those in need of them.

I feel a voice, somewhere in my gut, to go back to Colombia and use entrepreneurship to help others. I want to go back and understand the problems that real Colombians have. I want to understand where I can help the most and give better opportunities to those that need them.

And that is the bit about my future that I wanted to share: That I feel a voice inside of me that asks me to go back to Colombia and support those in need.

The call to action

You might be wondering now why I am sharing these thoughts. First, I wanted to write them down somewhere to structure the cloud of thoughts that I had in my head. But I made this public because I also need your help.

You know now that I want to provide opportunities to those in need of them. And since you know my goal, please make sure that I stay on it. If in a couple of years you see me working with the sole purpose of saving for a vacation home in the Toscana, please knock on my door, throw me a bucket of ice-cold water and ask me what the hell I am doing — I want to provide opportunities. Not work solely for me.

My second request is about resources. I will be finishing my studies in around a year and after that, I want to work full time providing opportunities. But before I throw myself in the cold water, I would love to learn about helping. Do you know any resources that might be interesting to me? Do you know someone that has worked providing opportunities that I could learn from? Or do you have a motivation similar to mine? Please, get in touch. Just send an email to manuelcardenasprieto99@gmail.com

Thank you

This is the first time that I write something personal online and I had some respect before it. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Any feedback is of course very welcome. With this, I finish this first post. Cheers!