This is just me venting....so be patient with my jumbled thoughts.
It makes me really really mad! I work so hard and I keep getting penalized for it. I work so hard and that seems to be a bad thing in some peoples books....it must be....or why would I get penalized for it?
I work full time trying to put myself through college. FULL TIME! It is so hard! To balance it all. To find time to get everything done. Between working all these hours, commuting to school and work, and studying it seems like I don't have much of a life any more.
How can others manage?
Oh, they don't work full time.
Why not?
They get help for school with things like pell grants.
Must be nice.
I used to get that kind of help.
In my freshman year 2005-2006 I got pell grants. Even though I worked. That was because they have a cut off line for how much money you can make and still recieve the grant. I made under the limit and got a 4000 dollar grant.
GREAT!
Then last year I had to start working more. Ends just were not meeting. I couldn't make it financially on my own. My mom is a single mother of 3 working graveyards at 14 dollars an hour! It isn't like I could call home to mommy and daddy for help either.
But other college kids do.
So I work and work and work and uh oh! I make over the limit......
By how much?
$72.00 dollars!
$72.00 dollars!
And because of that $72.00 I lost my 4000 dollar pell grant!
4000 dollars for 72.00 dollars?
So now not only am I in financial crisis already but now I am out 4000 dollars for school that I am going to have to find some way to get!
And I am already working full time!
So what to do?
Do I work more?
Spend even less time studying and chance getting bad grades?
Chance getting some other school money taken away from me?
This is a vicious cycle that targets the responsible college students!
I'm not out getting drunk, spreading STD's, sleeping through class!
I'm working!
But who gets the money?
They do. The irresponsible students. The ones who are too lazy to do what I am trying to do!
So what is the lesson that they are trying to teach us?
"We'll give you money if you just sit there being lazy and skating by but if you try to work and be responsible well then, you're breaking the rules?"
How ....
HOW....
HOW IS THIS FAIR???
It's not like all this money that I am making.... (which let me tell you is not much) is getting stockpiled somewhere and I'm sitting pretty.
Driving a 1994 oldsmobile.
Small savings account.
No fabulous apartment.
No extravagent clothes.
No offshore bank account.
No fancy trips.
AND I HAVE $19,000 in student loans already!
Graduate school?
If I don't get some money sometime soon...the dream may fall from my grasp.
I'm just so angry. The harder you work the more they take away from you. Since when was working hard a bad quality? Well that is what they are making it. The people who get to concentrate soley on their school work (something I wish that I had the luxury to do) and go out and have fun anytime they want....those with small amounts of responsibility...they are getting what I don't!
And then what do they do?
They force you work that way. And keep the cycle going. And those of us who are trapped in this vicious, cruel cycle are just getting hit harder and harder and I can't take it anymore. I am so mad. The hypocracy of the system just makes me want to scream!.....
WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THIS IS WRONG?!?!?!
It makes me sad really. To see hard work as something looked down upon. Is this the direction that society is deciding to take now?
Of course it is.
The easy way.
That's all anybody wants anymore
The easy way.
Why would you work when you can just kick back, have fun, and have your shit taken care of for you?
Sounds pretty good to me.
But that's not how I operate.
It's sad really.
Oh and back to the subject of where this money is going. I help my mom out financially. I buy groceries. I pay her cell phone bill. I put money on the propane bills. I give back to my family!!!
That's what I'm doing with my money!
Because she can't do it on her own anymore.
Hard work is getting us screwed!
I'm so angry I can't even process it.
While I understand that you're angry and frustrated and stressed out, I don't really think it's fair the way you talk about them. Mostly because I am one of them, but I work my ass off at school and work anyway. Let me explain myself...
I am extremely lucky and grateful to myself and to the government for my school being paid for. My tuition is entirely paid for with scholarships that I worked my little toosh off to get and a few minuscule thousand dollars (I believe $3,000 or so total, which is teensy in relation to my $34,000 tuition) in government aid.
I am also living on my own [which yes, is my choice, but if I was living in dorms or with my parents I would still need to pay as much as I could for living], which requires me to work full time, just like you, to make ends meet. I work 35-40 hours a week on top of a full schedule at school. Yes, I get financial aid and I received scholarships for some of my endeavors, but I still need to work, just like you do, in order to live.
I don't get to call mom and dad because I'm probably financially better off than they are. I don't get to lavish myself in expensive clothes and dining. I'm just like you, even though I'm one of them that got the Financial Aid.
That said, I completely understand that you'd be upset that many undeserving [or seemingly undeserving] people receive aid to attend school that they don't care about [see my blog on the issue: http://progressiveu.org/233412-why-go-to-college]. But be careful in your hastiness to judge those that receive the aid but still need to work just as hard as you do to commute and study and work and study and make ends meet and meet deadlines... all for the sake of the future.
Just like you.
Good luck with everything :)
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
Agreed. I was in the same situation, but working 60+ hours a week with no parents to call, period. If I didn't pay rent, I was homeless. I still got the government aid, and I needed it.
To the writer- Money management is key, also. Your mom doesn't NEED a cell phone, although it probably is a nice convenience. Take care of yourself first- your parents have the same opportunity to go to college that you do.
I love abortion. Read more here:
http://progressiveu.org/044921-i-love-abortion-even-if-it-murder
I understand that the term "them" may not have been appropriate but I did not say it was everybody...and I think that I made it perfectly clear that I did not think that it was everybody just the ones that I called "irresponsible' and further I defined what I meant by irresponsible. Clearly the definition that I was using in no way fits YOU so I didn't mean you. Further I said I was venting...and sometimes when venting my thoughts become a little all inclusive but that is in no way what I mean.
My opinion is that there are hundreds even thousands of people that are getting financial incentives who do not deserve them or do not do the most that they can with them.
However, that is not my reason for being angry. My reason at being angry is the government who sees somebody working hard as a reason to NOT give aid. It is a cycle that needs to stop. And if you are better off financially than your parents are then I am afraid that you are not "just like me" and that maybe you wouldn't fully understand the points I raised in the context that they are in for me unless you were.
But thanks for your comment. I appreciate the ideas.
First, please use the "REPLY" button when responding to others' comments. I know who you're talking to, but people outside the conversation might get confused :)
Now, I said that I totally understand your anger. But I think in your haste to be angry and "vent," you may have totally disregarded your point and made it ... falsely understood, I suppose.
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
Valid opinion....however...I completely disagree. In my "haste to be angry and vent" I am pretty sure I didn't disregard MY opinion....I'm pretty sure I voiced MY opinion just the way I wanted to. I pointed out that you misunderstood my opinion since you said that you were one of "them" but yet everything that you described yourself as being "good student, full time job, financially independent" was in no way the definition of "them". You said you were one of "them" when clearly you were not. So you misunderstood my opinion in who I was actually angry at which changes the entire issue. My opinion and view is intact.
If your opinion and view was entirely intact, why did you feel the need to defend it with "besides, I was just venting..." ??
I'm telling you what I got out of it from reading it. I feel like what you really want to say is hidden behind angry ranting, and I'm trying to tell you how you can be more successful.
But by all means, do it your way. Just don't say "oh, I was only venting" afterwards, if your piece did everything it was supposed to.
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
1. I did say the fact "I was only venting" however in no way to DEFEND my OPINION. I said that to explain my use of the term "them". Not to change anything that I said in my opinion. I don't need to defend my opinion by saying that I was "venting" because my opinion is intact and sucessful regardless.
2. The bigger issue would not be that I used the phrase "I was only venting". The bigger issue was you saying that you were one of "them" when clearly you were not. My entire blog was defining who "they" were and you could have easily seen with careful reading that you clearly did not fit the definition of "them" so it did not apply to you. I don't see your problem saying that I did not convey my information successfully when the issue that seems to be at the root of the problem (not the one you are choosing to highlight) was in fact quite clear in the reading and obviously a misinterpretation on your part.
It's not that I don't appreciate your ideas and thoughts...I do. And I am always very interested to see how people think that they may be able to help me improve my writing (not "telling me how I can be more successful" since I am not fully sure that you have that ability to offer) but if you want to take my entire thought and boil it down to one phrase that you think I messed up on then be sure that I am going to call you out on your mistake which was in my opinion much more relevant to the topic and is the reason entirely that you seem to have such an issue with MY thoughts.
But by all means, jump on 4 small words but then defend your opinion that you are one of "them" by using completely contradictory information. I don't think your side came across any more "successful"
You've entirely missed my point and I'm extremely sorry I even bothered to comment.
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
If you got aid and then they took that money away because you were working full time and they thought that you didn't need it.... that is why I am angry. Because they need to understand that if you are working and still can't make ends meet then that is when you REALLY need it. And my grades are stellar as well and I also attended a private university with a 30,000 dollar tuition for two years until I transferred.
No, I think the issue was that you wanted me to say that I made a mistake and you could not or would not say that you made a mistake...although your posts say it quite well enough for you. And I completely agree. I'm sorry you commented too because frankly you missed my point, or ignored it, or just could not understand it. I would all be for debating you on the issues but 4 words were not the issue so I'm sorry you missed that.
I really didn't say you made a mistake. Like I said, you completely missed the point and it's completely irrelevant now. There was nothing to debate. There was no issue. It became one. So never mind. It's done.
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Your Tongue is a Rudder; It Steers the Whole Ship, Sends Your Words Past Your Lips or Keeps Them Safe Behind Your Teeth... [Brand New]
It's over? Then by all means, STOP REPLYING! "But I think in your haste to be angry and "vent," you may have totally disregarded your point and made it ... falsely understood..." I'm sorry but disregarding my point...I'm thinking you meant that as being a mistake on my part...which is in no way accurate. I think your very first post was finding an issue with what I wrote...or then why would you have responded...because YOU TOOK ISSUE WITH WHAT I SAID! You thought that I had said something wrong and you were arguing. But I think that you were wrong! So don't think that I won't take issue with that. There was an issue...you just chose not to acknowledge your mistake...that sounds like a personal problem and not one that I should have to deal with. You will never win an argument by critiquing somebody and then not being prepared when they turn it around on you. I don't know exactly what the problem is but the "never mind. It doesn't matter now. It's done" hurt feelings garbage won't do much for you in a debate ever,,,hurt feelings doesn't mean you quit. I believe I wrote my OPINION. I beleive you thought that you had some kind of right to judge that opinion. Fine. But then don't pretend that you are high and mighty and that I am misunderstanding when I point out your mistakes. If you care to stop replying then by all means please do. I think that an educated debate would be worthwhile but your comments have just been wasting time for both of us.