Just Like Us- Final Blog Post

This book was really interesting to read because it touched on a topic that is very sensitive in the United States. What made me most interested in reading this book was how the four girls handled the situation of legality in the U.S. Marisela and Yadira had to pass on opportunities that Clara and Elissa got because they did not have green cards or social security numbers. Marisela and Yadira had to pass on a scholarship that Clara and Elissa ended up getting and it made them upset whenever Clara and Elissa would talk about in front of them. This reminded me of how at Deerfield everyone talks about their ACT scores because everyone thinks that it is some sort of huge competition but really it is something that should be private and not shared with others for the sake of their feelings. The thing that makes me so mad about sharing ACT scores is that this seems like the biggest deal in the world but it's nothing compared to what the girls in the book are going through. Almost every town in the United States feels like they are stuck in the "bubble" and after reading the book I realized how true that is. There may be many different bubbles but the problems inside of the bubbles are a lot different. There is a significant difference between the issue of sharing ACT scores and dealing with illegal immigrants so many people don't realize how much of a struggle it is when you can't apply for certain scholarships due to not having a green card. This book put it in perspective for me at how big of a problem this is and how it's not fair for the really smart illegal immigrants to not have the chance to apply for scholarships to pay for college because these girls in the book are smarter than me but I get the opportunity and they do not.

Just Like Us- Blog Post 4

At this part of the book, it is a couple of days before the girls junior year at University of Denver. The girls decided to throw a big party before their classes started and the writer of the book, Helen Thorpe, was at the party, as she as at all of the events that the girls are at since she is writing a book about them. In this part of the book she was talking about how she had believed that she shared a connection with the girls because they were all looking for their identities at the same time. She was trying to make a name for herself but after her husband decided to run for mayor, she was known as the mayors wife every where she went, including this party. In the book she says, "I still saw myself as a journalist, and could never accept that I would be defined by the actions of my spouse, just as the girls could never accept that they would be defined by the actions of their parents" (301). This quote really stuck out to me because it shows that even though the girls had to deal with not having green cards, they still managed to follow their dreams. They did whatever they could to attend college so that they can get an education and become successful enough to support their families and hopefully one day become American citizens. This quote was inspiring to me because shows that everyone has to branch away from their parents and their normal life. It reminds me that as my classmates and I prepare for graduation and for whatever our plans are in the fall, we have to take advantage of what we have now because once we start our future there is no going back to the childhood days of always relying on your parents and the surrounding community for help.

"Financing for Colleges Declines as Costs Rise"

Lewin, Tamar. “Financing for Colleges Declines as Costs Rise.” NYtimes.com. New York Times, 6 March 2013. Web. 2 May 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/education/aid-for-higher-education-declines-as-costs-rise.html?_r=1&


In this article, they talked a lot about the government funding for colleges and universities and how that has decreased rapidly. When talking about students paying more for education it said, "Students are paying more, while public institutions are receiving substantially less money to educate them." This article had a lot of good statistics about how tuition has increased over time and how the government funding has been down. The article gave the statistic that, "In 2008, before the recession, state and local government provided a record high of $88 billion to colleges and universities." After the recession, the government tried to keep the stimulus funds level through 2009-2011 but after they ran out of the the stimulus money there was a huge decline in government support for colleges and universities. While there was decrease in government funding for universities, there was a 28% increase in enrollment over 10 years at public universities. There are many people around the world that are affected by the cost of higher education, but the people that feel the most pressure are the politicians because they are the ones that have to come up with a plan to distribute whatever money they have correctly and make sure that they please the country while creating their plan as well. This article helps show how much of an issue the rising cost of higher education really is. The government spending has decreased and the cost of tuition and enrollment are increasing, so right now this is a lose-lose situation.

"The High Cost of Higher Education Explained in One Simple Graphic"

Watson, Bruce. “The High Cost of Higher Education Explained in One Simple Graphic.” Dailyfinance.com. Daily Finance, 16 March 2013. Web. 6 May 2013. http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/college-costs-tuition-rising-student-debt-infographic/

In this article it talks about how one graphic can show how much tuition has increased overtime. In the article it says that over the last 30 years, tuition has increased 1,120 percent and that compared to the rising cost of health care only increased 600 percent. The issue of paying for higher education is becoming more and more of a struggle. Many families are paying off their students loans way into their 40s and 50s. In the article it says, "should it be shocking that almost one in five families is currently paying off student loans." The graphic that went along with the article does not only show how tuition has increased over time, it also shows are the cost of textbooks have decreased and how the student debt has increased while credit card and auto debt have decreased over time. In the article it says, " The average debt total at graduation is approximately $27,500." The article is very helpful because after they say everything about how debt is increasing, they give you ideas to try and pay off your loans in a timely manner. Getting your diploma is the number one thing they say to do because employees that have a diploma get paid more money. The tip that they give is to graduate in four years because it will save you money from not paying for tuition and for room and board. This article was very helpful because it talked about the affect of what attending a university can have on you after you graduate; it also was nice because it gave tips on what to do when there are student loan debts. 

"Feature Store/ Cost of a College Degree/ Rising College Costs"

Dominique, Jill. "Cost of a College Degree: Background." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 6 May 2013.

In this article, she talked a lot about the history of financial aid and there are a lot of statistics covering the rising cost of higher education. This article was very helpful because it gives clear stats of how cost has risen. In the article it says, "According to the College Board, the average costs for tuition and fees during the 2011-2012 school year for in-state students at a public four-year college was $8,244 (and 8.3% increase, compared to the previous year)." This quote shows that the tuition is rapidly increasing at all levels, including in-state tuition which is supposed to be cheaper than out-of-state tuition. If tuition is rising at an average of 8% per year, imagine the cost of tuition for when our kids go to college. There is the opportunity of receiving financial aid which has been around for a long time. After World War II, there was the G.I. bill that helps war veterans get an education or a job. The G.I. bill helped the veterans have easier access to college because it cut cost down so they could have jobs after being gone for so long. Now we have the FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which students that are going to college can fill out so the government can help families that do not have high income, give money towards their child's college degree. This article also talked about the recent decrease of the government's debt and that most of the money that goes to student loans come from private companies because the government cannot afford to pay for so many student loans because there is a major increase in applicants. 

Just Like Us- Blog Post 3

At this time of the book, the four girls are sophomores in college and excited to not be the scared freshman on campus anymore. At the beginning of their sophomore year they all moved to the same dorm at the University of Denver. Marisela has branched out from her friends Yadira and Clara by living with different people but they still hang out together for a majority of the time. The three of them signed up for a class about Social Inequality. There were many instances where they talked about poor people not having many advantages. One student in there class said, "It is so common that labor liners are drawn in certain ways. Like, different groups do certain kinds of work, and I'm just like, this is that way it is"(182). It is really sad to me that that's the way people think now-a-days; that a certain race has a specific job and that is the way that most people in the United States think when they are talking about work force in America. What really shocked me the most is that when everything happens in the class the girls don't stick up for themselves. In book it says, "But otherwise the students of color remained silent, allowing the white students to dominate the conversation. When I asked why this was so, the girls from Roosevelt said they had grown weary of trying to educate other students about what it was like to be poor"(182). This helped me feel a little better about the fact that the girls wanted to stick up for themselves, but people just don't understand and they were sick of explaining it. It amazes me that the girls went through all the things that they went through in their life; coming across the border, handling school and handling the fact that they did not have visa or social security cards. I think I understand why the girls do not want to keep explaining their situation. I feel like no one can ever experience what someone is going through without actually walking in their shoes or experiencing what someone else experiences. 

"For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall"

DeParle, Jason. “For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall.” NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 22 December 2012. Web. 12 February 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

In this article they talked about three girls who were friends in high school and were trying to attend a college like normal students. These girls are all very smart and have the ability to go very far in life and they need to "get off the island." There were a lot of mishaps that ruined the experience for the girls. One girl, Bianca was enrolled in community college to be able to stay home and be with her boyfriend but be a student as well. Another, Angelica was heading to Emory University in the fall. Angelica was getting financial aid money from Emory but they said that the income of her mother was higher than it was so she did not get as money for the schools as she should have and ended up having to drop out of school because she was working more than studying so that she could pay off her tuition. The final girl Melissa, was going to Texas State University. She struggled when first going to college because didn't think college was for her but when she learned that it was too late to return the financial aid, she decided that Texas State was the school for her. After many struggles throughout the four years, Melissa is a senior about to graduate and in the end staying at Texas was the right choice regardless of the things that she had to go through. There are happy endings when dealing with the issue of the cost of higher education, like Melissa but there needs to be something done because there are people like Angelica who are $61,000 in debt and will take a very long time to pay back. 

Marketplace of Ideas research

As we started this project, I thought that it was going to be very difficult because we had to be experts on a topic. My topic is the rising cost of higher education and it is a bigger problem in the country than I thought it was. I did not know how many issues there were out there that go along with my topic. I was first interested in my topic after reading an article in my English class about girls who could not pay for college even though they were smart enough to get into college. It really makes me feel bad because a lot of the stories that I've heard, the girls or boys have better test scores and G.P.A's than I do, but I am fortunate enough to attend a University in the fall. After reading many articles, I really want to take a stand for this issue. It does not seem fair that these students do not get to utilize their intelligence because they are not able to afford the expensive universities. I want to stand up for this issue and possibly create an organization that can give partial scholarships to students, that meet certain criteria, that cannot afford college. These students deserve a chance to further their education because what if they can create a cure to cancer but we as a nation would never know because they were not given the opportunity to attend a college or university. 

Just Like Us- Blog Post 2

In this part of the book, the four girls are talking about their transition from high school and what college is going to be like. The one quote that stuck out to me the most was what Elissa said after registering for her classes at Regis College. She said, "It's such a big place. I'm worried about what's going to be like. Going from this to that is going to be very hard"(91). This quote really interested me because even though these girls worked their butts off to get into college and get scholarships  they are still scared and do not know how to handle college. It is well known that Latinos are very close to their families and have a hard time leaving the things that are important to them. I'm not saying that my family is not important to me, but I think that education is higher than your family because when you are older you have your education to rely on to get a job and be successful, not your family. I think that it's really important that people realize the chance that they get to go to college and be thankful for the opportunity that they are given. Many people in the area just attend a college or university because that is what everyone does around here, but if you are not ready for the commitment to your studies, then it is not worth it to take someone's spot when they work harder than you do and will actually take education seriously. There is a problem of the rising cost of higher education and it's not fair to the kids who are a lot smarter than the kids that actually do go to college. There are kids with better test scores and grades that don't get to utilize their intelligence because they cannot afford college and something has to be done about this situation.

Just Like Us- Blog Post 1

Thorpe, Helen. Just Like Us. New York: Scribner, 2009. Print.

After reading the first part of the book, Just Like Us,  I realized how serious the issue of how the rising cost of higher education is. The book is about four best friends, Marisela, Yadira, Clara and Elissa,  from outside the Denver, Colorado area who are dealing with the college admissions process. The main issue is the cost of the schools, but also that Marisela and Yadira do not have green cards or social security cards but Elissa and Clara do have green cards. The first couple chapters talk about how this issue has caused a lot of tension between the girls because they all see the admissions process as a competition and feel as if they should be better than the other girl. One particular thing is all four girls all applied for the same scholarship, but since two of them do not have green cards they were eliminated from the selection process. When they found out that Elissa and Clara got to the final round of interviews they were very upset. In the book it says, "Marisela had done a seamless job of acting. She had been funny; she had been gracious. Inside, however, the familiar sensation of watching Clara and Elissa move forward with their lives as she remained stuck in the place left her feeling terribly alone" (45). With the competition between the two sets of girls, it can affect their friendships and the relationships with their families because Yadira and Marisela are so upset about the situation. The book is really interesting so far and I cannot wait to see where it takes me in the next chapters because learning about this issue is really important.