thoughts of my day.

I've decided today that there is something seriously bothering me. Seriously. And that thing is college and the financial aid system. I have been "fortunate" enough to have all my loans and such come through this year to allow me to return to school on time and with all debts paid.


However, more and more I've been hearing the same lines from quite a few of my friends. "I don't know if I can go back to school this year." And honestly this is really starting to piss me off. It's absolutely not fair that a perfectly capable and hard-working student cannot return to school because they do not have the money. I seriously feel that the system works against us. Middle class and upper middle class people get screwed when it comes to college. We're not poor enough to get state and federal aid, but not rich enough to simply pay the full tuition.



So what are we to do? Next year I may very well be in that "not going back category" not because I didn't do what I was supposed to do in school, but because I simply am not going to be able to afford it. I love Obama and everything and support his initiatives, but something needs to be done about this. Healthcare for every person is important, but no where near as important as educating our people. Because let's face it, most of the people without health insurance are the ones who are also without education.

And to be even more honest, I'm tired of supporting and bolstering the lives of others. There's no stimulus package or large scale projects in the works to support and help me and others like me remain in college, but millions are being spent on things like war, welfare, and food stamps. And what further angers me is while I'll be in thousands of dollars in debt when I graduate, I find it funny that the gov't uses my parents tax money to send other people's kids to college for free. This whole system is one huge revolving door, I just pray that I can stay in college long enough to make it out.

-Shanique.