I would be interested in hearing about someone's neighbor or cousin who obtained a PhD in math at a highly competitive university or works as a professional classical musician who attended school in the U.S. and did NOT have parents who encouraged and facilitated their achievements pretty proactively.
My Uncle and maternal Aunt both have PHDs, the latter in Chemical Engineering. My Grandmother ran a business and had little time for them.
My story is pretty much the same as theirs. I was accepted at two Tier 1 colleges but went to a Tier 1 State U for financial reasons. I figured out what I needed to get into college by myself and did all the work including the money side. This pretty much sums up all of my activities. From my elementary years, I worked to get the money I needed to buy the things I wanted to play with or for books. I also figured out the public transit system when I was 12 and used it a lot or I walked.
And my best friend from college is from Mexico and he had even less than I. He made full professor in his 30s at a Tier 1 university.
