"Hope" being the key word. Enough that, IMO, those two sentences are contradictory. As you detail, Pete has had somewhat of a charmed, academic-leaning life. Most Americans can't relate to that; they might hope that their kid will end up going to good schools and becoming successful, but lots of people also feel like that avenue is completely closed off to them. I know I did, along with most of my childhood friends. It wasn't until I was around 20 and the Pell grant system had been expanded that I even seriously considered it.
You thinking that Pete story is relatable reminds me of one of the first time a teacher was talking to my class about college in elementary school: I live in an area that was kind of rough, but there was a fairly prestigious university nearby. The teacher asked the class if anyone had thought about college, and someone in the class said they'd probably end up going to the local undiversity - the teacher responded with "it costs $24,000 a year to go there, do you think you afford that?" and everyone got quiet. Years later, I ended up going to that school (whose tuition had gone up significantly in the passing years) after transferring from a community college and working my ass off to get a good scholarship. One day a professor found out I was a local and asked why I was the only local she had ever taught. I responded with "no one thinks they can go here; I didn't even know anyone that considered applying after finding out how expensive it was." I also felt incredibly out of place the entire time I went there.
I'm with TM on this. Most Americans aren't going to look at Pete and see someone relatable; they're going to see a privileged person who had access to opportunities they didn't. And who probably doesn't understand them, as detailed very well in the articles linked previously. I certainly know that's what I would have thought before getting into the academic life myself. But it looks we just have completely different perspectives on this.
