I am a student from a low-income family, and my country is punishing me for it.
Currently, I am a student at Bradley University pursuing a higher education in an attempt to better myself and hopefully better the world a little bit as a result. This may seem to be a bit far-reaching, but I truly believe that by educating and bettering myself, I can make a greater impact on the world around me. But, right now, that's becoming really really hard.
The financial situation of my family is no fault of my own. The recession of 2008 hit a lot of families hard, one of them being my own, and it had lasting effects. Many conservatives love to place blame on people for being in a lousy financial state, and although sometimes that can be justified, its never ever fair to hurt the children in the process. I was merely 10 years old in 2008 and I am at absolutely no fault for the financial state of my family, yet, today I still am feeling the effects of it.
All political views aside, most everyone can agree that Trump's America is hurtful to many groups of people. Immigrants, refugees, Muslims, impoverished people, and many other marginalized groups have drawn the short stick due to our current president. Although I am a white, heterosexual, cis-gendered female from a relatively nice suburb and can fully recognize the privilege I have, the socioeconomic status I was thrust into simply because of the family I belong to is greatly impacting my ability to prosper. Betsy DeVos, the current Secretary of Education is essentially waging war on students from low-income families. Or at least that's how I see it.
Betsy DeVos wants to do away with the Free and Reduced Lunch program, a program I, myself, and my siblings were and are a part of. Although I was lucky enough to always be adequately fed, there are other kids who aren't. There are students who rely on these things to not go hungry. Bradley University is in Peoria, Illinois, an area that is wrought with poverty and there are thousands of children all over the city who are fed lunch for free at school, some even receive breakfast as well. For many of these kids, this is the only meal of the day they can count on, that they know will definitely be coming. Aside from the nutritional benefits of actually being fed, these kids are able to focus, retain information, and overall learn better with full tummies and settled minds that aren't constantly distracted by the fear of not knowing where their next meal is coming from.
Aside from Free and Reduced Lunch, this administration is pouring millions of dollars into private schools rather than their public alternatives. Many public schools, inner-city schools especially, are struggling to provide the best resources for their students, and thus students aren't reaching their full potential. This reallocation of resources toward private schools could mean more cuts to ever-important programs in public schools like after-school programs, athletics, and the arts.
DeVos's stance on higher education is what really gets to me. Vast amounts of students from low-income families rely on government provided financial aid in order to afford a higher education, myself included. As a freshmen in college, I should be worrying about making the grades and establishing connections with my fellow peers. What I should not be worrying about is whether or not the government is going to cut off funding for the aid that I so desperately need in order to be here at this school in the first place. I shouldn't be crying in a friend's dorm room because I'm so worried that I won't be able to afford to come back next year. My parents have done so much to ensure that I can get a good education and they are already struggling enough to pay for dastardly expensive books and the amount of my tuition that isn't covered by scholarships or aid. I should be rewarded for so desperately wanting an education, rather than having my government tell me that my acquirement of such is less important than those who can actually afford it by taking away my ability to do so.
Senator Bernie Sanders spearheaded his 2016 Presidential run with a platform that included tuition-free college, which was understandably widely popular within my age cohort. Betsy DeVos acknowledged this but her only response was "Nothing in life is truly free." While this is a fair rebuttal, she's still missing the point. Sanders wasn't suggesting that the government go out on the streets and hand out diplomas willy-nilly, rather that we take away the stress and worry of paying an unattainable amount for an education and just let students learn.
People who go to college are doing so to hopefully better themselves and attain more success than they already have. For many, the only thing standing in the way of them and a full education is the cost, which I find to be absolutely ridiculous. Betsy DeVos and the current administration are essentially building an ever-larger roadblock stamped with a message of "poor kids don't deserve these things," and I find that to be absolutely unacceptable. I have just as much a right to an education as anyone else, whether or not I can cough up a disturbing amount to pay for it.
