Ricquell King
Assignment One Essay
English 1001
9/28/15
“College is part of the American Dream, It shouldn’t be part of a financial nightmare for families”
(Mikuska, 2013). In the reading “Waking Up and Taking Charge” by Anya Kamenetz she talks about the
problems with student college debt. She compares college students to older political people and how us
college students should ban together to earn respect. Students have gained reputations for political
activities in the country, except for the issues that directly affect them. For years, many students at
different Universities are joining organizations and doing sit-ins and rallied to get more education
funding and lower tuition. A coalition group called Virgina21 is a student-led state PAC who works on
lots on things for college students like cutting textbook prices and increasing student financial aid.
Vigrina21 reminds students that that they don’t deserve to be priced out. In 2004, the federal
government made it possible for up to 50,000 more students eligible for financial aid and also raising the
Pell Grant to 3,000 dollars. With high tuition rates and loads of college expenses this causes students to
be in more debt with student loans. Students should be more aware of what they’re getting into before
taking out loans for college and not having to worry about if they can afford the first choice college. The
author Kamenetz is trying to persuade the audience to get the respect they deserve. College students
should be more interested in fighting for causes that will help out things that affects them personally
and also know what you’re getting into before you sign on for loans and credit cards which could drive
you straight to being in debt.
Before reading this article, I didn’t pay much attention on how student loan and credit card debt
can affect someone or how serious this situation was. Well since I’m just now becoming a college
student the whole student loan debt is starting to hit more close to home. I always knew the risk on
getting a credit card but never realized how far it can. “…the next time you see the Discover Card table,
RUN the other way!”(Stella, 409) As young adults we were taught about credit card and the debt that
you can get into to but they never went into detail on how bad it can be. It was almost like common
sense to me to stay away from the credit cards because you can end up with bad credit.
According to the writer Anya Kamenetz, “American college students need to experience that
“click” moment, as the feminists of the 1970s called it, and realize that our personal problems are also
political. If we young people don’t march on our behalf, who will march for us?”(Kamenetz 410). She
believes that young college students need to get up and realize what their problems really are and
maybe stop just fighting for other causes, but causes that will also affect them. I agree with Kamenetz
that college student should take a stand. I believe that students should form more organizations and
join movements for fairer credit and higher education funding.
The organization of “Waking Up and Taking Charge” is effective because the way she lists her
examples makes them work off one another. The opening of the reading starts off stating how students
in the United States were demanding changes for Yale’s financial aid policy. This was just one of the
many protest that students participated in to get tuition lowered and financial aid higher. The author
skips over to other countries like the UK but focuses on Canada. To me it seems that student in Canada
are working way harder with many organizations to help student loans. The way she wrote almost made
me feel ashamed for us United States students, but also interested in reading more. As the examples
went on they all connected with each other. It helps understanding the idea that Kamenetz is trying to
get across that college students should know what they’re getting into and start realizing their real
problems.