Sabrina+A’s+2017+OpEd+Article

= Class of 2018! Here are your diplomas and student debt! Congrats! = by Sabrina Almaraz



A s a fresh faced freshman heading into high school, I was always told that these next 4 years would affect what college I go to and my future. Counselors told us to get straight A’s and to follow all of the A-G’s. I enrolled into the most challenging classes to make me stand out as much as possible and I got A’s and B’s. One thing that your counselors forget to mention during the cheerful powerpoints that are meant to persuade students to desire a college education, is the cost of it all and the lifetime of debt the average college student experiences. They build up your hope, which makes college seem more achievable for 2 more years. Until you reach your junior year, you are ripped a new one, and slapped in the face with a reality check. After all hope is lost you assume that there are only two options. To be in a lifetime of debt so you can get your dream job or to not go to college at all and work at the local Walmart or K-mart (worst case scenario).

With college applications around the corner, I worry of what my decisions are for the future. I face the great problem of living in a low income family. My parents aren’t wealthy and they are not even close to being ready to write a check with 4 figures on it to pay for part of my college education. There are scholarships out there for people like me which helps, but still leaves many years of paying off student loans. The best decision to my mom is for me to go to VC. Choosing to go to VC would save me a lot of money in the future, and I could live the same life as my parents. But I’m a dreamer and my dream has always been to get a higher education. Settling for VC would be giving up on that dream. There is a chance to have a transfer to a university after two years at VC, but as Mrs. Kapala said in the recent presentation it is a small chance that the students who plan on transferring actually go through with it. That small chance is under 20%. I d on't want to settle! I want to succeed! The decision of getting higher education or not should not be based on your current financial status.

Why is college more obtainable for upper class citizens?

Even for middle class citizens, affording college is more grueling than ever before. Middle clas s citizens are too poor to pay the cost of college, but too rich to qualify for financial aid. The middle class is the majority of this country’s population, and they are suffering.

I have heard multiple cases of students in my own high school not applying to the school of their dreams because they simply cannot afford it. Our future decisions should not be based on if we want to live in a lifetime of debt or to give up on our dreams. For the dreamers out there, who dream of climbing up the social ladder. Do not have a chance. The prices of housing, tuition, fees, and books is increasing every year, lowering the rate of people wanting to follow their dreams. In Forbe’s recent findings have concluded that the student debt crisis has reached $1 trillion, and accounts for the second highest form of consumer debt behind mortgages. Student debt is growing and growing and nothing is being done about it. The dreamers are being intimidated by the big numbers that come with their acceptance letters leading them to drop their dreams. According to the Washington Post, 70% of college dropouts say they dropped out because they couldn’t afford it and needed to work to support themselves. College is a choice and there are some people out there who would rather not go. What I am worried about is that there are students out there who have eve ry right to follow their dream and go to college, but choose not to go to save themselves a lifetime of debt. More students would be applying to go to colleges and trying to get higher education if they didn't have to pay for their education for the rest of their lives.

This should tell you that a higher education needs to achievable for the majority of the people. There needs to be more associations willing to give scholarships and financial aid, so we can put an end to student debt.

I wish it was more achievable for me to get a higher education without having the worry of debt looming over my head for the rest of my life. I cannot choose the life I was born into, not that I have a bad life, but upper class students seem to have an advantage. They have better chance of following my dream than I do. This muckraker is not here for the purpose of whining and saying life sucks when you don’t have money. It's a reminder that something needs to be done to make college achievable for EVERYONE. I still plan on going to college and I’ll most likely take out student loans. I guess that’s the American Dream now.