Paying for School

This is an issue that is important to many college students today, as well as their parents, who, combined make up a large portion of the population. It's especially important to me right now, perhaps more so than many others. I just heard back from one of the schools that I want to go to in the fall. They told me that, in essence, "We aren't giving you any scholarships, but here's some loans that you can take out."

I'm a little ticked off. I understand why it happened, though. I have a 4.0 GPA, 94 hours completed, and, among other things, 1 second place and 5 first place awards in the ACC math competition. I am a multiple time gold member of the honor society. I have, in essence, an almost perfect student record, and it shows that I work hard and apply myself.

But my parents earn too much money. They aren't paying for my schooling, but, because I'm still living at home, saving money, and doing school the smart way, I am counted as a dependent. I filled out the FAFSA, and my expected parental contribution was more than the cost of tuition plus room and board. The thing is, I'm not going to be getting any of that money.

I'm also a transfer student. I was advised multiple times to apply as a freshman and retake my classes - there's more money for new students, and I'm not the only person who has received this advice. This make absolutely no sense to me; I am a transfer student because I took as many of my classes as cheaply as I could. Being a transfer student also means that I have a proven track record - with the qualities listed above, I'm much less of a "gamble" than the majority of incoming freshman would be. I made the decision that I am not going to spend another two years retaking classes - there's no way that could be worth it to me, even with the extra scholarship money.

I think that the way we fund education should be changed. I understand how incredibly important it is to help the poor, to work with them to elevate them in life and education, as studies have shown how beneficial it can be for them.

But I disagree that they should get a free ride, while I am encouraged to take out loans. I understand the value of a good education, and will not stop until I have one. I work hard. I have never failed a class, and I think that nobody who truly values their education will.

There are plenty of resources in place that I think are very helpful. My government class this semester has regular SI sessions, and I have attended every one. According to the session leader, those who attend the sessions regularly typically get at least a letter grade higher on their final grade.

ACC also has a free tutoring center, where students can go and get tutoring and help in almost any class. I have not personally used it very much, but the times I have, it has been incredibly helpful.

They have counselors and advisors, so you always have someone to ask for advice, about what classes you should take, or what degree plan you should follow.

I think that, because all of these services are available as part of the tuition, that scholarships should not be based so heavily on perceived financial need, but on how well you are doing in school. I understand that people will have a hard time with paying for school, if they don't have money already. But I also think that all of the resources that they need are already there, and are free, to help them excel in their classes. Thus, I think that we should award more scholarships to the people who do well in school, regardless of their financial status.

The government plays a large role in this; but their money is spent in large on "financially-needy students." I really believe that more of the money should be spent on the top students, those who have shown, time and time again, that they can excel, and truly deserve the money and the education.

Dangerous Food

We hear all the time about how foods are dangerous, but this one is definitely a new one. Last week, a boy was suspended from school for two days - because he chewed a pop-tart into the shape of a gun. Not only that, but the other students were offered counseling for the event as well.

This event is the subject of the article, School offers counseling for traumatized students who saw classmate chew pastry into shape of gun, by Doug Powers.

The majority of the article is simply a list of the happenings. At the end, he offers a few comments that, on the surface, appear to be simply funny.

While the article is posted on a conservative blog, I think that, by making broad and humorous comments, the author is trying to appeal to a wider audience. I think that he does this well; I certainly found the article to be amusing.

I think that the author is definitely trying to make an argument, and it's the obvious one. He's saying that this is ridiculous. He is doing this with his commentary and wording throughout the article, especially the comments at the end.

His comments, which mostly focus on what seem like silly extensions of this event (calling it a "loaded" gun because there was filling in the pop-tart, and a mandatory cooling period before pop-tarts can be eaten), are really meant to be thought-provoking, and perhaps a little bit scary.

The comments are about things that could happen in the future. Yes, we see them as ridiculous right now, but, he is saying, if we've gone this far, what is to stop us form going even farther, down even darker paths?

I think that he is right. We have already gone too far with our ridiculous zero-tolerance policies in schools, and we need to stop and re-examine them before we move even more into ridiculousness.

Also, the title of his article is way too long.