Denied the American Dream

I COME from a working-class family. My mother was a stay-at-home mom, watching a few kids in in-home day care for grocery money; my father was a factory worker for 25 years.

In 1998, while I was in high school, my father was injured at work, rendering him unable to do his job--and eventually leading to his being fired after filing a workers' compensation suit against the multi-million-dollar company. He was denied his pension and health care benefits upon his termination. The company fought the compensation suit, and he fought back. Ten years later, he's still fighting, while his degenerative cartilage and joint injuries have left him unable to work in the only occupation he knows.

My parents filed for bankruptcy shortly after he was fired, our house was foreclosed on, and my parents now live on a fixed income from Social Security Disability Insurance, are forced to pay for their own health care, and are struggling with rising rent, food and fuel prices.

Seeing their struggle and knowing that supporting me was adding to it, I opted to move out of their apartment after high school at age 18, find a full-time job, support myself and get my own health care. My and my family's situation dictated that college just wasn't an option.

Three years ago, I decided to give college a shot, as I realized that so many doors of employment were shut to me as a woman with only a high-school diploma. I decided to attend night classes at the local community college while keeping my full-time job.

That was a nightmare in itself, trying to balance workloads and write papers at my desk when the bosses weren't looking.

It turns out that working all those years and making just enough to squeak by (while racking up thousands in credit card debt) left me with an income "too high" to be eligible for any federal grant money! But I did it anyway--three years of hell and $5,000 in loan debt later, I had my associate's degree, and intended to go on and finish my bachelor's degree by commuting to a state college 40 minutes away.

The distance to the college and the availability of classes I have to take means that night school isn't an option this time. I got a great deal from work, where they allowed me to cut to half-time and keep my health care. But the question was how was I going to afford living expenses working 20 hours a week instead of 40?

In the spring, I took time off from work twice to drive out to campus to meet with a financial aid advisor to figure that part out. The financial aid office at the school had three people working in it and a line of students out the door. Obviously, they weren't going to dedicate the time to thoroughly explain the loan processes according to my individual needs. They sent me out the door with a printed breakdown of estimated costs, including living expenses and loans.

Not being able to afford more time off work, I decided to figure this information out on my own. Since I don't qualify for grant money, I ended up with Stafford and Perkins loans, which I assumed (not having a proper explanation from someone trained in this) were awarded on a semester-by-semester, not yearly, basis.

I was wrong. My (incorrect) calculations over the last six months were that I'd have an extra $6,000 or so coming back to me to cover living expenses. I even budgeted my rent and bills nicely to fit within that framework. I was ecstatic that I could make it work without selling my soul to private loan corporations--which was great because my credit is a disaster, and I can't find a co-signer.

I called the school today to find out when I'd be getting my loan refund, and they told me that I wasn't getting a refund. In fact, I actually owe more money to cover my tuition.

Finally, someone explained to me how the loans work. It's $11,000 "awarded" for the entire year--which means that all the money has already been sent to cover school costs for the fall and spring semesters, and I'm left with nothing to live off of, except my reduced paycheck, which definitely isn't going to cover anything more than groceries and gas--if even that.

I'M SUPPOSED to start school next week. My reduced work schedule starts next week. My rent is due next week. Everything else is due next week, too, and there's not enough time to even attempt to finagle a private loan.

My hopes for finishing college have just been destroyed. I'm going to beg for charity from some family members, and maybe someone will be able to help me out, but right now, it looks like college is out of reach after all. It's been proven again that the "American Dream" doesn't exist for the working class.

The only consolation I have right now is that I'm part of the struggle against the capitalist profit system that rips opportunities from working people. I'm part of the struggle for socialism.

Generations of students could have access to free education with the billions being spent by the ruling class on the imperialist occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. ExxonMobil's $40 billion in profits last year could have paid for the health care of all Americans. It's clearly evident where the priorities of the system lie.

An alternative society is possible, it's necessary, it's even inevitable--but it's up to us to organize and fight for it from the bottom up.