Hi,
I would like to keep this anonymous for personal reasons.
I'm in my final year of a top 10 UK University, it's been quite a journey with lots of highs and lows since finishing A-levels and taking a Gap Year.
I come from the bottom 10% of society; we live in council housing, my father lives off welfare benefits after losing his job around 15years ago and my mother works part-time in Tesco. Our household income is probably around £10-12k per annum, however they are also gambling addicts. Life's been very hard for me, pretty much all my life - no security, no inheritance, no holidays, no role-models, my parents constantly arguing over money etc.
I kind of felt free when I came to university, where I could make a fresh start. During A-levels, I used to just go to the library every evening in my local town to escape the traumas and problems of home, it kind of felt like heaven to me. I managed to achieve straight-A grades at A-level and was determined to make something of my life as I knew if I ****ed up, I'd have nothing to lose anyway, how much worse could life get right haha?
Anyway I should hopefully be graduating this year, I've made lots of great friends and connections in the past 4years through being opportunistic and hungry..pretty much all my friends are middle/upper-middle class..so they've kind of changed my outlook and perspective on things. Like the way I speak now is a lot posher than before, you would probably think I'm middle-class if you met me..
I've also received a job offer from a top commerical law firm in London starting me on around £50k. Obviously this is a lot of money for someone from my background and it feels as though I'm gaining the fruits of my hardwork. Obviously coming from the bottom 10% of society, I will now be in the top 10% (income-wise)..paying 40% tax etc.
I share a lot of values with the Tory party, however when I tell people who know me from the beginning they say it's wrong for someone like me to vote Tory as it's full of toffs and middle/upper-middle class people who I can't relate to or don't care about the normal average joe on the street etc..
Was just wondering about the thoughts/views others had on this given my background..