Life isn’t fair. Some people have a wealth of advantages and others are very disadvantaged.
To be salutatorian in the circumstances of your childhood is a great achievement - you should be rightly proud of yourself.
I have also experienced strong disappointment at just missing out on goals for which I had striven very hard, whilst I could see others had advantages which gave them the competitive edge. Then, I met my husband who had lived in a dairy shed and got up each morning at 3 a.m. (through rain, wind & freezing conditions) to milk cows to save for Uni (& fifteen other menial casual jobs through six years of Uni) because his parents opposed tertiary education and had refused to support him. I realised that, in comparison, his circumstances had been more disadvantaged than mine, so I stopped dwelling on the things I had missed out on. Professionally & personally we have both been quite successful and are now in good positions.
I urge you to heed the wise advice given in previous posts - don’t waste time & energy on regrets. Seek out and make the most of new opportunities.
