Poor College Students

Why are things so expensive? Everything is ridiculously overpriced. Life is overpriced. I think most people now consider themselves poor in one way or another.

Recently, my family bought another vehicle since the old one was dying. We got the last car for about $9000 back in 2002 - it was a year old then. Now, 2001 vehicles identical to the one we had are selling for ten thousand. What is wrong with car dealerships?! It's idiotic. And houses - one year, a house will be priced at a couple hundred thousand dollars when it's only worth ninety grand the next.

Taxes are going up. Fees of every kind imaginable are popping up. Which, for a college student like me, is bad news. And if you are a poor college student whose mommy or daddy can't afford to pay for your education, that makes things even worse. You have to rely on financial aid that never amounts to quite enough, no matter how much you scrimp and save.

So how do poor college kids manage to make it through? You work all the time. Or beg on street corners, whichever works best for you. Universities have fees that are absurd, unnecessary, and just plain stupid. When most universities (like the one I'm attending) are funded by the state government, there is no reason to charge $30 for an ID card that students are required to have. Can you imagine paying for your own freaking ID card when it's just cheap plastic and ink? And not only that, state taxes keep going up in order to support such institutions. So, the average Joe gets screwed twice: first by the crazy high taxes you have to pay - much of which funds these universities - and then, as if that isn't enough, you have to pay $30 for an ID card, $50 to apply to the school, thousands of dollars for each semester, and $300 for one book. And each class requires three.

Heck, I'm just getting a typical Bachelor's degree. I can't imagine having to pay for years of medical school.