BRAVE! Upper Middle Class College Student at Private University Speaks Out Against Free Tuition
In the recent weeks since Governor Cuomo announced New York’s Excelsior Scholarship Program, the “free” tuition plan has been met with unrelenting criticism and poorly-researched think pieces from both sides of the aisle.
One critic of the plan bravely posted her own disapproval on esteemed platform The Odyssey Online and continues to speak out against “handouts,” despite being both a millennial and an enrolled college student.
“Nothing in life is truly free,” says Kassie White, a wise-beyond-her-years freshman at Fordham, taking a drag of her e-cig as she looks pensively out over the lush green campus of her private university.
“I used to think things were free, like my car and our summer home on the Cape. But then I realized that ‘free’ just means somebody else is paying for it. And ‘somebody else’ usually means my dad.”
Her father, Ms. White goes on to tell us, works on Wall Street, and his favorite past-time (second only to golfing and tax evasion) is to remind anyone within earshot that he alone suffers the burden of single-handedly supporting a family of four, in addition to a presently unconfirmed number of illegal immigrants, welfare queens, and entitled millennial snowflakes.
“My dad raised me to believe in the value of hard work,” Ms. White says proudly, recounting the day that her father took her aside and pointed out their underpaid housekeeper, who was in the midst of cleaning up her brother’s vomit from the previous night’s drunken escapade.
“‘There is someone who never learned the meaning of hard work, he said to me,” Ms. White recalls, “‘Work hard, and you’ll never have to do anything difficult or unpleasant for the rest of your life.’”
When asked if she thought the housekeeper in question had children who could benefit from free tuition, Ms. White rolls her eyes.
“It’s not the taxpayer’s problem if someone’s parents don’t value education enough to start a college fund for their kids.” Ms. White explains haughtily, “My mom did her revenge shopping at Nordstrom Rack instead of Nordstrom for years while my parents were saving up.”
“People just don’t understand that college is a privilege, and privilege involves sacrifice. Sometimes human, but other times, just fashion.”
Ms. White goes on to explain that, in addition to her parents’ savings, she also receives multiple scholarships — thanks to her good grades.
“Maybe lower income students should just work harder if they want to be able to afford college,” Ms. White says, leaning back as she reminisces about the obstacles she had to overcome to get where she is today.
“My mother was a stay-at-home mom, so she was around to read to me as a kid and help me with my homework, and her college degree set a precedent for me to pursue higher learning.” Ms. White admits, “But I still had to work just as hard as all the kids whose parents had to decide between sending their children to school with school supplies or lunch money.”
“I just don’t understand the laziness of students who can’t maintain high-honor roll while they spend most weeknights working part-time to put food on the table.”
Ms. White, after all, knows all about the hardships of employment. She looks down at calloused hands, evidence of the hours of hard labor spent as a retail associate at Free People, and closes her fists in shame.
“I mean, I get discounts, sure. But at what cost?” She shakes her head, eyes sparkling as she holds back tears, determined to bear this cross with dignity.
Since Ms. White maintains that economists with degrees and decades of experience are completely wrong about the feasibility and benefits of free tuition, what does this 19-year-old with almost a full year of a Communications major under her belt have to say to those students who are concerned about the ever-increasing price tag on college?
“First, don’t go to a private university,” She says with a shrug. “State schools cost, like, a fraction of my tuition. And they’re just as good! I mean, not good enough for me, but for some people, probably.”
“Second, commute!” Ms. White takes a deep breath, and then imparts her second shameful secret. “Even I commute. It’s hard, but at the end of the day, when I’m lying in my private bedroom in the beautiful Upper West Side brownstone where I live rent-free on my parents’ dime, I take satisfaction in knowing that I’m learning the meaning of sacrifice.”
Finally, she advises, one can always take the “millennial shortcut” and go thousands of dollars in debt for a degree that means nothing without the right connections and an impressive résumé of unpaid internships that are impossible to pursue while working three jobs to pay for textbooks.
“It’s the easy way out,” She adds with another roll of her eyes, “But I guess putting it off is better than expecting it for free.”
It’s time for Ms. White to take off, but before she heads home to the organic home-cooked meal that awaits her after her long day of classes, she offers her final thoughts on the audacity of Cuomo’s new plan.
“Stop expecting to have everything handed to you,” She says as she slides into the white 2016 Audi S4 her parents gifted her for her graduation.
“The world isn’t going to coddle you forever, so take some personal responsibility and start acting like an adult.”
With that, Kassie White pops on her Ray Bans and drives off into the sunset.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Liz Ruddy is an Emerson College graduate who was lucky enough to be born to college-educated parents who financially and emotionally supported her through their own hard work and sacrifice. Because of them, in addition to tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, she now has the privilege of using her education to write Medium articles in her free time and point out the hypocrisy of those who, with similar or superior status, actively speak out against “handouts” while blatantly ignoring their own entitlement.
Though acknowledging its various flaws, she celebrates the direction of Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship Program, and hopes this marks the first step to a future where access to education is one fewer obstacle that needs to be overcome by those who hope to pursue the promise of the American Dream.
