I fear for my future. I never predicted I would feel this way, with this much intensity, this early in the game. I am afraid, overwhelmed and ultimately angry. Slowly and painfully, my visions for my future are being dismantled as I grow more aware of the reality of my financial situation, as a student trying to pursue an education in America.
My parents gave up their relatively comfortable lives and hard-earned careers to work grueling 8-10 hour days in an unfamiliar country, holding jobs for which they were both underpaid and overqualified. They made the decision to move our family to the United States so my brother and I could take advantage of an American education and its supposed ensuing opportunities for a better life.
Years later, I now find myself uneasily questioning whether these selfless sacrifices were worth it, as I try to determine a cost-benefit analysis of pursuing a college degree.
Throughout my entire high school career, I was led to believe that the only thing I should concern myself with was getting accepted into college and that, somehow, the rest would work itself out.
From SAT prep books to colossal guidebooks describing every school in the country, I was exposed to everything the College Board demanded of me in order to get into college.
However, knowing next to nothing about how I would actually pay for my education, I wasn’t even really able to tell the difference between private and federal loans.
While I was in for a rude awakening, I have realized that I am not alone.
Today, students are about $1 trillion in debt — a figure that has surpassed our nation’s credit card debt, according to a June Consumer Reports article.
According to the Project on Student Debt, the rate of default on student loan repayment for 2010 was 8.8 percent (up from 7 percent in 2009).
While President Obama announced a plan last week to consolidate student loans and reduce interest rates, his plan does not apply to private loans and ultimately does little to relieve the enormous debt burden weighing down American students.
This burden becomes even more tangible with the increasingly bleak job prospects for college graduates. As of September 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds at 14.7 percent.
You might ask: why did I pick AU, one of the most expensive private universities in the country?
With new state budgets requiring cuts to public education, my local public university offered me about the same amount of financial aid.
So, I picked this university, considering it to be the better option in terms of its location and existing opportunities for the things I hope to accomplish in the future.
Yet now, I often find myself reconsidering my decision to go to a four-year university in the first place. My doubts are sustained when I see evidence of my tuition money going towards superfluous, extravagant marketing campaigns that are put in place solely for promoting the University’s image and prestige amongst other equally-costly schools in the country.
I am sickened that I am taking out loans with sky-high interest rates to pay a university that refuses to provide any financial transparency while it continues to overcharge and generally exploit campus workers.
Where is this exceptionally American equality of opportunity?
When the banks get bailed out and the students don’t, the priorities of this government and its greater encompassing system become clear.
It has also become clear that American students have joined the ranks of the oppressed, along with the 99 percent marginalized for a range of reasons, including race, class, sex, sexual orientation and political affiliation.
We, the students, refuse to mortgage our futures to Wells Fargo and Sallie Mae. The pressure is building and it seems we have reached that tipping point. Our voices will not go unheard. Our organizing and mobilization is getting stronger. It’s only a matter of time before we win.
maliabadi@theeagleonline.com
