Blog 20

Focus and Some Data

In today’s society you have to attend college to be successful, and it is your parent’s responsibility to pay for it. These two cultural stories drive the student loan debt narrative that affects many aspects of a student’s life. The education system is built in a way that diverts blame from their unfair practices and money hungry parts towards parents and students. This study will shed light on; students preparation in attending college, their interactions with the loan process, the fear of loan debt and how it affects the American Dream and other decisions associated with school, stress between family members relating to affording school, and how the phrase, “Loans allow the opportunity for everyone to get a college degree” is both misleading and hindering the current societal mindset on higher education.

-This section shows the expectations that parents put on their kids to attend college. The language supports this.

Me like any pressures or anything to go to college?

D uh I didn’t feel any pressure per say. It wasn’t likei had to go but I wanted to. I feel if I had ssaid I didn’t want to go that there would have been some push back from myparents.

Me so your parents were very stern about you going to college?

D um welli think it waskinda understood…it just seemednatural to go to college and I wanted to go into higher education and it was support 

-Location and affordability are important to most students and this may cloud our judgement in finding a school that is a perfect fit for the field we are most interested or strong in.

Me  yea I was going to get to a question like that. So what was the priority in choosing a school, was it strictly finiacial, location, or prestige or friends, or the

D it was location and affordability, not to mention Rutgers has a good name associated with it and I wanted to go to a bigger state school no matter what but the driving factor was affordability and location

           -This section is very important it revels the cultural narrative of parents looking after their kids during the college process and setting them up to attend. It also shows how this porcess is steamrolled with kids not getting all the info they need. It also shows how kids feel that the ONLY way they can attend college is by taking out loans.

Me was the loan process ever explained to you like going into college or even in high school prepping for college?

D um no um when it came down to me getting accepted It was understood that I would takeout a loan…

,e who told you about … that you had to take out a loan

D my parents…um I remember my mom was at the computer with me and said hey check these forms out and we applied and I got approved like instantly and I kind of took it from there

Me ok were there any consequences explaind to you like if you were to default on a loan

D no I mean

Me like did it feel like a big decision at the time orany pressure by it

D no no but it was my only option that if I wanted to go to school unless I wanted to go part time even though we didn’t discuss that, um if I wanted to be a full time student I would have to take out a loan and all I was told was that when you come out of college and you pay it atleast pay the minimum

And that was it

       -Here is an example on how fear of debt drives our decisions of what field we want to go into

 I always like the sciences I was originally a bio major  and I was pre med cause I wanted to be a physician so I was like uhh it doesn’t matter how many loans Im going to take out I will make it back after med school but that was never realized but as time went on and I found a field I most liked I looked into what was going to make themost money with that degree and I went into it with my masters.

       
       -This section focuses on how stressful having loand debt burden can be, and how this drives students want to do well not, that they are interested in being good at what they are doing.

Me ok so moving on um Rutgers um sorry, where there any pressures of your loan burdenthat wereaffecting your school work while attending Rutgers wasthat fear ever driving any of your school work?

D uhhhmm mmm uhmmm yea

Me was it affecting if you

D not exactly but there I wanna say my first year a year and a half there was a class or two I wouldn’t do   so well in and it would affect me like alomstas a personal failure more than anything but then I started to realize that I am paying for this myself and im taking out loans to fail is not a good feeling it seems like wastes of thousands of dollars. So I decided to take on more responsibility and accountability and it was almost like a kick in the butt and I um hey I gotta perform not only because I wantto do better but because its going to cost me money and its just gonnacost me more if I have to takethe class over