Slightly discouraged, I began to wonder why I cared so much about the budget cuts and others didn’t. The answer requires some background, however, so I’ll start there. I was born and raised in Seattle and its suburbs, and chose to try something completely different by coming to school in northeastern Pennsylvania. I came from an upper class, urbanized society to a middle (to lower-middle) class, rural society. The difference between the cultures in these areas has helped me to discover not only a great deal about myself, but also why people in this area function in the way that they do. And believe me, it took a while to figure that out.
My boyfriend (who is from this area) once mentioned to me the propensity of pregnant girls in his high school – he couldn’t even recall how many there were. My high school had one, in the four years that I was there, and we called her Juno. She was our one and only Juno. I remember discussing this with my mom, and she reminded me, “Well, honey, think about where you are versus where you grew up.”
Trying to understand this as best I could, I thought back to missions trips that my family were involved in when I was younger. It never failed to amaze me that the people we were serving were living in filth and unaware of that fact. And that, while not as extreme of a situation, is what is happening here. The middle and lower-middle class peers of mine who don’t care don’t see a problem with the way that they are being treated, because this is how they are always treated. Well guess what, middle class, you deserve better, and you should stand up and shout it.
At the rally, the student who had organized it told us that he graduated from Reading High School, which has a 68% drop out rate. 68% of its students drop out before graduation! What will happen at that school if half of their budget is cut? How many more of their students will drop out before graduating? If the school has less funding, they will have even less to offer to their students than they do now.
A huge part of embracing your individuality is confidence, and a huge part of finding confidence is expressing things you are passionate about. So get passionate, fellow students! Everyone should have something to be passionate about, even if that passion isn’t anger – as mine is on this topic. Passion stirs motivation, and motivation stirs change. In this situation especially, change is definitely needed.
So here are some words to my peers who are not actively in protest: Everyone has accepted that this is the way that a society should function, but it isn’t. I have been privileged enough in my upbringing to experience true democracy, a true bootstrap-mentality, and truly egalitarian society. The fact that students could walk by the protest ignoring those fighting to keep their tuition at its already outrageous cost is disgusting. The middle class does not have to accept being treated as if they are worth less than the upper and upper middle class. They are as much a part of this nation as the upper and lower class, and they need to recognize that their value as individuals is not determined by the value of their income.
No comments:
Post a Comment