Mackenzie was definitely a victim and a survivor of horrific child abuse. While I do understand she had a word-count to be mindful of when writing her personal statement, I felt she should’ve been more direct in conveying what she exactly been through. She’s a talented writer and very articulate. She was capable.

During the application process, I felt she was poorly guided. As I highlighted, life isn’t black or white. There’s plenty of grey areas. Mackenzie’s story is unique. She went from living a privileged existence—even though she was abused—to having her life turned upside down. At the time she applied to UPenn, she was in foster care with limited income, but that wasn’t the case for most of her life. This was her reality for about a year. It was still challenging and stressful, nonetheless. Yes, I’m also aware she had to support herself throughout her time at UPenn. Perhaps, higher education needs to expand their definition on what it means to be low-income. Also, updating the generalized notion on being a first-generation student would be helpful.

In The New Yorker she herself acknowledges when articles were published about her, she regrets not setting the record straight on certain assumptions made about her background or “oversimplified” with certain details. With the time I spent reading the article and observing the situation, I respectfully conclude she knowingly or unknowingly centered herself in a lived experience she didn’t experience for most of her life. She’s socialized as a woman of respectability and had resources the average low-income foster child wouldn’t be privy to.

I listened to a podcast that The New Yorker released after they published the article, and even though she didn’t have a Rhodes Scholarship to pay for her tuition at Oxford, a professor is paying for her first year. She’s lucky to have this kind of support, after what her Alma Mater put her through. As I listened, I found more statements made to be dismissive of low-income and/or non-white abuse victims/survivors, but you’re free to listen and draw your own conclusions. Thank you for reading my article and your feedback.

REST IN PEACE MA’KHIA BRYANT