As the oldest of three children in a hardworking American family, I
have
completed my four year college education and am currently living with
my
parents again and working in order to start to pay down my student
loans
while, hopefully, saving enough money for grad school... someday. My
sister, the youngest in the family, is celebrating her high school
graduation; excited to begin persuing her college education.
This is a typical scenario in America these days. It is a positive
picture, one of responsibility, motivation, maturity, and growth; But
it
is becoming increasingly clear to me that there is more to this
picture,
painted in much darker colors. As the next hurdles in my own path are
coming into focus, I am realizing that my situation is actually
becoming
dire as choices and opportunities are disappearing around me.
I have heard experts project the poverty line in Westchester/Putnam to
be
drawn at an income of about $40,000 a year. I work 39 - 52 hours a
week,
depending on over-time availibility, and even after a recent promotion
I
only make roughly 65% of that amount working a reputable psychiatric
hospital; and it seems that I'm one of the lucky ones! In our current
job-market, most of my college-graduate peers can only find employment
in
the same retail jobs that we held in high school, and not for lack of
trying.
I often work to the point of exhaustion and, between my old car with
gas
and insurance, my student loans at their current rate, and an extremely
reasonable rate of $200/month rent to my parents, I still cannot afford
to
move out of thier house. I am Twenty-five years old.
I hope to somehow attend grad school but, at present time, I have no
idea
how. The average tuition and fees at public colleges has risen 40%
since
2001 (when adjusted for inflation) and the federal interest rates on
student loans, the borrowed money that makes attending college possible
for the majority of us, is set be raised to more than DOUBLE what it is
now on July 1st; yes, This coming saturday!
To further explain our Congress' indifference to the education and
well-being of America's next professional generation, it should be
noted
that the maximum Pell grant (money for families experiencing financial
hardships) has been frozen for four years now, while college tuition
has
been increasing at an alarming rate. This is creating a no-win
situation
for so many motivated, aspiring young people who deserve an honest
chance.
And to top it all off, congress has failed to extend the college
tuition
tax deduction; choosing to, instead, give more tax breaks to the
wealthy
and to corporations...again.
When I was growing up I remember dreaming of a bright future with
myself
settled into a career with my family and my piece of the American pie.
I
remember hearing, again and again, that "the children are the future".
As
I get older now, I realize that this was true in a sense. The children
are the future... the future victims. Victims of polititions with
dollar
signs in thier eyes and indifference in thier hearts.
With all of the high profile headlines in these turbulent times, don't
allow this vital matter to fall between the cracks. Don't let such an
essential keystone in the foundation of our infrastructure to decay,
neglected by public attention. Please write or call your
congress-people
and tell them that this trend in higher education seems to have no
limits
or end in sight and we are not going to take it. Demand that they
support
the Miller-Durbin bill that will slash interest rates in half on new
loans. We are tomorrow and we are tomorrow's economy, so this effects
us
all; yes... even you.h