A little bit less than a year ago here on The Odyssey, a content creator from Delta State University wrote a piece entitled, "I'm Spoiled: Stop Shaming Me."

Now there have been more than a handful of articles posted here that have made me upset, but when I read this one I was so angry I felt sick to my stomach. I suppose what made me angry was that the author seemed to be demanding empathy, and as an average middle-class college student, I found myself feeling incapable of being able to empathize.

To the author of the original piece, first off I'd just like to make it abundantly clear that while you might think people are looking down on you or shaming you for being spoiled, it's not against you personally. It's against the idea of a college kid being handed everything they want/need while the majority of college students struggle. Yes, I fully acknowledge that some people may be straight up rude to you or negative to you about being spoiled. I don't doubt that you get dirty looks or rude comments from people who maybe aren't as lucky.

However, that is part of being spoiled. Take a moment and recognize your privilege. The negativity you receive as a result of having things handed to upsets you and I can understand that, but please realize that the negativity you receive isn't nearly as destructive as the negativity other students get when they wear the same shirt twice in a week or don't have a new dress for every occasion.

You actually went as far as to say, "I'm blessed with parents that provide for me, but they didn't 'hand' me everything."

Let me just stop you there.

My parents provide for me. They make sure I have something to eat everyday, clothes to wear, a roof over my head, other necessary groceries and hygiene products, and even contribute to some of the things I just enjoy doing. If I want to make art, sometimes my mom will go to Michael's and pay for a canvas. I have guinea pigs at home, and my parents will pay for their food when I can't.

But they didn't buy me a car to take to college. The summer before college started, my parents told me they'd donate $500 to my car fund just to be supportive and helpful. A month later, I was in an accident that had to be paid for.

"We told you we'd give you $500 towards your car," my dad told me the night of the accident. "But now, that will have to go towards paying this bill. You'll just have to put in a few more hours at work over the summer to be able to make up for it."

I worked two part-time jobs for three years to be able to pay for my 2001 Toyota Camry. A piece of junk, but I needed a vehicle.

In your article, you said when you left for college, your parents bought you a "substantially nice car."

That is the definition of being handed something. You denying it just proves how entitled you are. THAT'S what people are really "shaming." The idea that you see the things your parents do for you as things all parents should be doing for their kids. Like being provided with a nice car is something a kid should expect their parents to do for them.

You also said that during the time you're in school, your parents provide you with an allowance while they encourage you to stay focused on academics. You said, and I quote, "They pay for my groceries, textbooks, tuition, gas, car note, rent, sorority dues, and the rest of the essentials. When I ask for money, most of the time they give it to me."

Okay, I'm just going to be blunt here. Sorority dues do not qualify as an "essential." Sorry. If you want to go Greek and your parents support that, that is fantastic, but sorority dues are not an essential expense. Here's how you know you're privileged- some kids who would give the world to be able to go Greek can't because they can't pay for it and their families can't either.

Your parents financially backed your decision to go Greek because they wanted you to have the experience that they did and they also wanted yours to be better, and that's great. For you. But be aware. At least have the decency to recognize that you're extremely lucky for that, and that most students will not be able to empathize with you because we don't know what that's like.

I think I speak for the majority of college students around the globe when I say that for us, part of the college experience is struggling financially. We learn to master the art of shopping on a dime. We eat Ramen on a daily basis because it's cheap. Sometimes we have to say we can't make events because we can't pay for the gas to get across town. We wear the same clothes because we don't get new outfits and matching jewelry purchased for us.

After going into insane detail about all the things your parents do for you, you said, "They do these things because they love me and want the best. In their eyes, the best parenting style is to help their kids become successful and reach the point to where we can be self-sufficient."

Honestly, I'd give everything I have to witness a discussion between your parents and mine.

You say this like my parents don't love me because they don't provide for me as much as yours do for you, and that is extremely ignorant for you to even imply. My parents want the best for me too, girl. In their eyes, they also want nothing more than to help me become successful and self-sufficient.

But let me ask you this. How do you expect to become self-sufficient, when your parents are providing you with everything you need and financially handing you everything?

You do know, right, that at some point you'll actually have to get a job to pay for the things you need? And your wants will come second?

You'll be thrown into the real world at a frightening speed, and other students won't be there to struggle through it with you because for us, that's what our college experience consists of.

I get that they don't want you working a full-time job. I personally also feel like a full-time job and going to school would be too much, but I also know people who have made it work.

My parents expected and demanded that I get at least a part-time job while I was in high school, and now I have two. I work two part-time jobs and balance a full-time student schedule. I did that my entire freshman year of college and my grades are still solid.

You ALSO said, "They know that if I have a full-time job paying for everything, I will become physically and mentally exhausted. Being in school is already a job, so they really don't want to pay for something that won't benefit me because I'm too consumed in working. They just don't believe that such heavy financial responsibility should come this soon in my life. I have an entire life where I will have to do it. They want to provide me the means to reach my goals and see me succeed more than they ever did. Isn't that every parent's goal? I am I wrong to have parents that have those goals?"

Okay. You aren't "wrong" to have parents who have the goal to do what they can to see you succeed. My parents have that goal too. My parents don't believe that I should have so many financial responsibilities at my young age either, but they know that's part of how the real world works. I, like you, have an entire life in front of me through which I'll have to be financially responsible for myself.

Being in school is a job for everyone. I'm sorry if that's news to you, but it is. But most students, myself included, have to pay for their own schooling. While our parents want to do what they can for us to watch us grow and succeed as people, they simply can't afford to put us through college. For us, we have to work to pay for that. We have to work part-time or even full-time to be able to pay not only for everything we do while we're in school, but then also to pay back our student loans. We ARE physically and emotionally exhausted.

But you're far too precious and fragile to have to deal with the weight of stress and exhaustion, right? You're so much better than us because your parents can pay for everything you need and want without blinking. Because your parents can pay for everything for you, you won't ever understand how hard most students have it. When you fail to note that, you're the one shaming us. I said it once and I'll say it again; recognize your privilege.

The things you mentioned such as having to learn lessons by yourself, accountability, responsibility and independence have nothing to do with you being spoiled. I'm not even sure why you put them in your article at all, other than to defend your own parents and to make yourself look like the hero who has somehow managed to stay (falsely) humble despite her upbringing.

Those are things every other college student has to learn for themselves too. Every other student is aware that this is a fend-for-yourself type of world. You're not telling any of us anything we haven't already learned.

Towards the end of your article, you said your parents value education and social skills. You said, "They don't want me losing both of these things because of a job. You learn professional social skills at a job, not everyday social skills."

Ignorant.

I have infinite issues with that. First, quit generalizing the entire job market. There are more than enough jobs in which you learn everyday social skills. I work in retail. I've learned more about people and about social behavior there than I have through all my years of public education. Second, having a job doesn't mean you lose education or social skills. In most situations, having a job significantly improves social skills and helps college students learn important skills like time-management while encouraging them to be successful in school and to explore their passions. Third, professional social skills and everyday social skills aren't very different at all, if they are at all to begin with. I've never known someone who was so professionally, socially skilled that their everyday social skills weren't good enough.

You are materialistically and financially handed everything, there's no "even if" about it.

A sincere congratulations to you for having the will to pick up occasional part-time jobs. That's impressive. However, even then you say it was for extra money. For most college students, they don't have a choice to get a job or not. And if they get a job, it's to make ends meet, not to have spending money.

You're right that you earned those A's and that those grades weren't handed to you, but please step down and recognize that your academic career has been much easier and significantly less stressful than it has been for the majority of other high school and college students. Just know that.

Without defending yourself, just take a minute to reflect on how lucky you are.

In response to your saying, "Stop shaming people like me because we're lucky to have parents who want to do so much for us," you are missing our point.

We aren't shaming you for the way you were brought up or the way your parents provide for you, we're upset that you expect us to empathize. We're angered because in demanding us to stop shaming you, you're shaming us. You're failing to realize how much harder it is for most everyone who isn't you or who doesn't have the financial support you have.

Yes, you are right when you say that parents have different parenting styles and different ways of teaching lessons. I understand that and I respect that. My parents raised me differently than yours raised you, and that doesn't make either one of us better worse than the other.

That said, you don't get to tell me I'm "shaming you" for your upbringing and lifestyle when that is not at all what I'm doing. You do not get to write an article like this and not expect people to be upset. You do not get to say that your parents do what they do for you because they love you while you belittle what my parents do for me because it isn't as much or even just because it's different.

I am beyond grateful to my parents for raising me to be a hard-working student and employee at the same time. I am grateful my parents have let me learn lessons the hard way. I am grateful my parents haven't handed everything to me because I've been humbled through my experiences and been introduced to the hardships that make up the real adult world.

My parents love me too, and while they've watched me stumble they've given me the confidence to always stand back up.

That's nothing to shame, either, and you can't put a price on that.