...Free College Education: Right vs Privilege In one of his speeches, Leonard L. Boswell, a former U.S. Representative for Iowa's 3rd congressional district, quotes “The American Dream is one of success, home ownership, college education for one's children, and have a secure job to provide these and other goals” (Ersoy). Over the years, college tuition fees have increased immensely. Statistics show that the average in-state tuition fees at public four-year schools increased from $8,646 in 2012-13 to $8,893 in 2013-2014. In 2013-14, the percentage increase in tuition fee prices for out-of-state students was 3.1% which was slightly higher than that for state residents at public four-year institutions. There was an increase from $12,887 to $13,310. The $110 increase in average tuition and fees for full-time students in a public two-year colleges reflected a 3.5% increase from $3,154 in the years 2012-2013 to $3,264 in 2013-14. The $1,105 increase in average published tuition and fees for full-time students at private nonprofit four-year institutions reflected a 3.8% increase from $28,989 in 2012-13 to $30,094 in 2013-2014 (“Trends in Higher Education”). Furthermore, between the years 2001 to 2011, at least a third of states experienced funding cuts. During the recent recession in 2008, total public funding for higher education has declined by 14.6 percent (O'Shaughnessy). Consequently, the escalating cost of college tuition has threatened educational opportunities for...
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...Poverty – Socially Responsible Parents My parents arrived in America 29 years ago, five years before I was born, with nothing but the lint in their pockets. Their story is not one of fulfilling the “Great American Dream” or going from “Rags to Riches”. They weren't heir to some hidden family fortune, nor did they miraculously win the lottery. Actually, my father still steals paper towels from work to make sure we have napkins for the dinner table. And two days ago, we stuffed my mother's purse full of ketchup packets from the McDonald's because we were running low at home. Are we impoverished? Absolutely not. We have a roof over our head, shoes under our feet and a very modest, but stable family income. After my mother has recently been laid off, my father is the solely responsible for paying car payments, mortgage, bills, and the daunting idea of successfully putting his three sons through college. If anyone reading this knew we collect rain water in five-gallon buckets and trash bins to do our laundry with, it would be a seen as an indicator of poverty. However, I am actually typing this on my MacBook, connected to the internet, and sitting rather comfortably in the air-conditioned school library, or at least as comfortable as one can be in a rickety wooden chair. I am the first one in my family to graduate college and am pursuing a higher education with a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Charleston, and concurrently pursuing an MBA degree from Northeastern...
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...sublime that I can, one day, make it my own. They made me believe in all this ideology that we no longer need. We’ve evolved from the so called “American Dream”, yet, we still do not realize that the real American Dreams lives inside us, and the one we fetishize is merely just a twinkle in the eyes of our great grandfathers. The world was served to me on a silver platter, and once I realized it’s actually just a two dimensional image on a bright little screen, it became this intangible thing that I’m supposed to devote my life working towards until the day I meet my impending, inevitable fate. But why? Why is it that I’m to do whats expected of me, and not actually what I want to do? Why is it that I have to spend my life working towards something that I won’t even be able to enjoy if I get there? Why is it that at seventeen years of age, I had to make the conscious decision to put my future self into debt, for the majority of my adult life, just to get a piece of paper that says I’m finally ready to join the real world. But even then, the ink on that paper drips with the venom of a lie. No one is ever ready to join the real world. They tell you to chase your dreams, but what they really want you to chase are deadlines. And they tell you follow your passions, but they want you to follow that steady paycheck. This is something I realized at a young age. Sitting at my table, beaming with joy because we got to color, and coloring was my favorite thing to do. Things like “have...
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...categories: the need for security, and the need to accommodate the drive toward growth,” (Brill, 2005, pg. 27) all of which can be fulfilled by education. As a citizen of the United States, in an egalitarian society where educational advancement is fostered, I was able to become closer towards achieving the American dream. Education was also seen by my immigrant family as an important factor in attaining greater opportunities and ultimately an improved lifestyle. The process of accomplishing the American dream is one which is not always easy and comes with many challenges. One important challenge was getting the resources I needed to further my academic goals, which was hampered by my parents’ inability to understand the educational system in the United States, and my parents’ limited financial assets. As a result, I knew I would have to depend on outside assistance. This proved to be a difficult task for me, because as a male I felt there was a negative stigma associated with asking for help from an outside source as this may display vulnerability. Nevertheless, with dedication and support from those who I trusted, it made the American dream more possible. My parents’ experiences have led them to have high expectations of me, and encouraged me to aspire for the highest achievement possible considering they were not fortunate enough to have the opportunity to acquire a higher degree than primary school. They were forced to deal with issues of oppression in their home country...
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...Chicano 10B 22 August 2014 The Struggles of Undocumented Students What is the dream of an Undocumented Student? The dream of an undocumented student is to pursue the American Dream of becoming someone professional and having the opportunity to help their family back in their country. What are the reasons that the government does not want undocumented students to continue pursuing an education after they graduate from High School? The government does not focus on what undocumented students dream of becoming in the future. What they do focus on are the jobs they are taking from our country. Undocumented students are being denied the privilege of attending college because they are unaware of their rights to attend college. Every year, there are many undocumented students from different countries migrating to the United States. They migrate from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in search for a better life. However, once they arrive to the United States they are faced with many obstacles that they did not know existed. Many undocumented students graduate from high schools, but only a few get the opportunity to pursue the American Dream because they do not have the right documentations. I believe the government should give undocumented student a visa in order for them to pursue their dreams. Chicanos and Latinos students are being affected by this situation because most of them end up going back to their countries. Other students end up working in low wage jobs for example...
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...11/12/13 It has always been my childhood dream to attain the highest education possible. Unfortunately, this dream has eluded me several times due to reasons beyond my control. Despite all the elusions and roadblocks I experienced on my journey to fulfill this dream, my determination and desire has never faltered. This is because I kept my eyes opened and focused on future. My parents separated when I was in 10th grade and things became very tough for me but I was able to graduate from grade school in Nigeria with the little help my mom could provide financially. Unfortunately things changed when I got to High School. Unlike Grade school, high school was not free of charge. Parents pay tuition and buy school materials. This was very difficult for my mom because I wasn’t the only child attending school. Three of my younger siblings were also in school and mom had no lucrative job. We all lived on an income ...
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...we both attend BSU, I see her occasionally participating in school activities, events, etc. and I always hear really good things about her. However, she is a psychology and Spanish major and is graduating next spring but is planning on continuing to pursue her education to receive her doctorates. She is currently working as a part-time collection specialist at Goodwill Finance and is passionate for her Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority. Jannette believes that success starts at home, where parents play a major role in their children’s lives in which will ultimately shape who their children will...
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...accomplish what has long been my dream - become a fully-fledged journalist. Here is what led me to this aspiration. All my achievements so far have been driven by example. Back at high school I admired my Physics teacher, who was an exceptional person. He turned every class into a spectacular event with a mesmerizing scenario. Outside school, I revered my tennis instructor, whose tutoring in no way limited itself to game practice but was instilling a handier skill - the skill of living. Although I devoted a large share of my time to sports and eventually studied to be a teacher of Physical Education, I felt my academic background would be incomplete without devoting more time to mind after spending several years training the body. Yet, long before that I was fascinated by Vladimir Pozner, the journalist who then hosted the so-called "TV bridges" with the United States. Ever since then he has dominated the Russian TV-scape. I marveled at the mastery that he demonstrated leading the discussion and ease, with which he switched from Russian into English and back. This was the first time when I became interested in learning the language and started to fantasize about a career in journalism. However, the death of my parents and subsequent illness of my grandmother kept me thinking about the bare necessities of life and forced me to forget my ambitions for a while. Studying at the university and working part time eventually allowed me to get my life back on track. A great source...
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...Chris surrounded himself with people who valued the same aspects he had about life. The individuals Chris cared for did not live the mainstream American dream lifestyle, for example Jan Burres and Bob who were rubber tramps and traveling day-by-day not following the typical culture of their fellow Americans. Another example of Chris’s companions through his process of discovering himself was Charlie, an old and crazy man who lived in a RV park and let Chris stay in his mobile home for the meantime he’s in Arizona. In General everyone who Chris had the opportunity to meet was neither mainstream nor privileged in various forms they were all distinct from your standardized society. Befriending so many people was a part of Chris’s growth as a...
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...James Truslow Adams once wrote that the American Dream is “…a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” The notion of striving for dreams – the American Dream to be precise – is vocal a point to In Cold Blood. Characters flounder with how to achieve their dreams. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote uses characterization to convey the message that the pursuit and thrive to achieve the dream leads to ruin. Characters such as Perry and Dick are prime example of why the American Dream can be fragile and why the dream is an idea not to be tormented...
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...succewThe 7 Keys to Success by Will Edwards For Fay - My Most Excellent Daughter ‘You are a special enterprise on the part of God’ – Mildred Mann This eBook may be given away freely. It may NOT be sold. Copyright © White Dove Books 2006 All Rights Reserved. http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk Contents Your Wake-Up Call ........................................................... 3 Commitment...................................................................... 4 An Open Mind ................................................................... 6 Persistence ....................................................................... 8 Flexibility ......................................................................... 10 Faith ................................................................................ 12 Thankfulness................................................................... 14 Passion ........................................................................... 16 The Rest of Your Life ...................................................... 18 A Message for Our Time ................................................. 19 About the Author ............................................................. 20 About White Dove Books ................................................ 21 _____________________________________________________________________ The 7 Keys to Success Will Edwards Your Wake-Up Call When I was quite young, someone told me, “If you want be really...
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...The 7 Keys to Success by Will Edwards For Fay - My Most Excellent Daughter ‘You are a special enterprise on the part of God’ – Mildred Mann Distribution Rights This eBook may be given away freely. It may NOT be sold. Copyright © White Dove Books 2006 All Rights Reserved. http://www.whitedovebooks.co.uk Contents Your Wake-Up Call.................................................................... 3 Commitment ............................................................................... 4 An Open Mind ............................................................................ 6 Persistence .................................................................................. 8 Flexibility.................................................................................. 10 Faith .......................................................................................... 12 Thankfulness............................................................................. 14 Passion ...................................................................................... 16 The Rest of Your Life............................................................... 18 A Message for Our Time .......................................................... 19 About the Author ...................................................................... 20 About White Dove Books......................................................... 22 _____________________________________________________________________ ...
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...1. My major is business. I want to study this major because it is my dream when I was young. 2. Throughout college years, I hope to gain more knowledge in my major. Besides, I would like to get involve to activities that can help me build up the relationship between other students, faculties and me. That helps me in communicating. 3. I’m a sophomore, and I would like to transfer to the University of Washington to get a bachelor’s degree. 4. Attending college is a great chance for me to start pursuing my goals. I have known a lot of resources that are very helpful for my major. Besides, there are many staffs and instructors who are willing to help students, like myself 5. No words could describe my feeling at that moment I received the award letter. I was crying because it was my first achievement since I came to the US. My family is so proud of me…. 6. Growing up in hard conditions, and experiencing many challenges, I appreciate a chance to pursue a higher education. I believe it is the only way to achieve the successful future. netsfinau@juno.com Lynette Finau My educational interest is Business Management and hope to be a business owner one day. Growing up in hard conditions in Vietnam with a small family business. This stems from my family business back home in Vietnam because funds were limited to us to expand. I am now in the right place here in American, here at South Seattle CC, having received this scholarship to help me through school to...
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...On the surface I think I am like most young and modern American women: I take school seriously, I have dreams and goals for the future that I am determined to make happen, and I don’t expect anyone to do the hard work for me. I come from what is an increasingly normal background: my parents are divorced and I live with my mom and sisters and only occasionally see my dad since he now lives on the other side of the country, but I still feel very lucky to have a supportive, if spread out, family behind me. What makes me different from the rest of the crowd though is how I choose to fill my time away from school. I come from a middle income background so I knew I’d have to get a job in the summers and/or after school to help fund college, but instead of getting the easiest job I could find like many of my friends, I purposely sought work that would teach me new skills as well as give me a sense of fulfillment, which is why I turned to coaching soccer and working as a camp counselor. I know that every summer I am out there I’m helping the kids in my community, not only by watching to make sure they are playing with skill and determination, but also by helping them learn invaluable life lessons, like how to be a good teammate and friend, and how to settle disputes fairly and efficiently. I also have now added the title of waitress to my resume and while at first glance this job may not seem to offer me skills useful in pursuing a college degree, I have found it to offer incomparable...
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...On the surface I think I am like most young and modern American women: I take school seriously, I have dreams and goals for the future that I am determined to make happen, and I don’t expect anyone to do the hard work for me. I come from what is an increasingly normal background: my parents are divorced and I live with my mom and sisters and only occasionally see my dad since he now lives on the other side of the country, but I still feel very lucky to have a supportive, if spread out, family behind me. What makes me different from the rest of the crowd though is how I choose to fill my time away from school. I come from a middle income background so I knew I’d have to get a job in the summers and/or after school to help fund college, but instead of getting the easiest job I could find like many of my friends, I purposely sought work that would teach me new skills as well as give me a sense of fulfillment, which is why I turned to coaching soccer and working as a camp counselor. I know that every summer I am out there I’m helping the kids in my community, not only by watching to make sure they are playing with skill and determination, but also by helping them learn invaluable life lessons, like how to be a good teammate and friend, and how to settle disputes fairly and efficiently. I also have now added the title of waitress to my resume and while at first glance this job may not seem to offer me skills useful in pursuing a college degree, I have found it to offer incomparable...
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