Jonathan Rich

UWRT 1102-034
February 5, 2015

The Social and Geographical Effects on Human Development

I have often wondered how someones environment can affect his or her
outcome. It is my personal belief, that most everyone can argue that it has some sort of
effect. Often times though, they choose to only look at the economic factors when asked
this question. For example, I have heard many times that so and so would not have
ended up insert event here if he or she belonged to a higher social class. This can
certainty be argued, but I dont want to focus my paper on only this factor. The time
period, personality differences (likes, dislikes, activities), available resources and
weather all can effect someones development.
The best example I have to show the different effects that society and geography
play in development is a personal experience. My dad is from rural south Georgia and
grew up with little money or amenities; my mom however grew up quite differently. She
grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood, in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Their
environments have fostered their personalities that they have today. My dad enjoys
fishing, hunting, watching NASCAR and evens drive a pickup. My mom however has
taken after her mid-west upbringing. This past Thanksgiving we were just finishing up
desert when my mom said, you know when I was a kid, this is when we would go
outside and play hockey for the rest of the day. This custom is very foreign to anyone

from the South. In fact I remember how surprised I was to see a hockey rink, inside my
Aunts neighborhood in Minneapolis.
These factors not only affect us as an individual, but also the people around us.
By this I mean your social status affects the other people in your group as well.
According to a study done by PewResearchCenter, 51% of low-income high school
grads attend college where 81% of high income attend college. One of my reasons for
attending college was that it was expected of me. What would happen if it were not
expected of me? If we look back at my parents, almost everyone in my moms family
has a college degree. My dad is the only individual amongst his family that has one.
These questions are important to us as students, because they are important to
us as individuals. I believe that its important to understand the people around us,
because it allows us to better understand where they are coming from. My interest in
human development, led me to this question and I believe that there are a significant
amount of statistics that will help me construct my paper. Due to the fact that the only
prior information I know, is from my prior observation a good amount of research will
significantly improve my paper. Lastly, I hope that I will be able to give a definitive
answer to this question whatever the outcome might be. My only reoccurring concern, is
that there is no possible way for me to analyze every culture, but focusing on the
extremes (ie. Nazi Germany) can still allow me to have a well-informed paper.

Sources:
"College Enrollment among Low-income Students Still Trails Richer Groups." Pew
Research Center RSS. 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/15/college-enrollment-among-lowincome-students-still-trails-richer-groups/>.