Audrey Rock-Richardson's Pay Your Own Way

In, “ Pay Your Own Way (Then Thank Mom)” Audrey Rock-Richardson brags about herself and puts down others, saying that all who attend college should be able to fully support themselves, without any help, just because she did it back in the year of 1998 in Utah. Well I’m living proof that it is impossible to do that in the year of 2015! Though I do work, my $400.00 checks every two weeks barely support the cost of living. If it weren’t for government assistance, I would not be able to attend college. Even though I receive financial assistance, it does not mean I do not take my schooling seriously because I’m not paying for it myself. But Rock-Richardson still tries to argue that those who are getting help from the government or their parents

By describing an unemployed sorority girl who lived in a sorority house completed with a cook and enrolled in thirteen college units and fully supported by her parents. Rock-Richardson writes, “I on the other hand was taking 18, count’em 18 credit hours… I worked 25 hours a week… And here’s the kicker: I pulled straight A’s” (par. 11). I do agree that being able to work and pull off straight A’s is an amazing accomplishment yet she never states what she majored in. Though her major may be one consist of a lighter workload than what medical students may have to complete. I do not think it is fair o drag on her accomplishments when she never informs the reader of the other student’s background besides the small details. Rock-Richardson states, “I caught a glimpse of that same girl’s report card at the end of the semester she pulled C’s and a few B’s which didn’t surprise me. Having to juggle tasks forces you to prioritize, a skill she hadn’t learned” (par. 6). Yes, working and paying your own cost of living makes you understand the value of a dollar. But I don’t agree that those students who do get help from others slack

the way it was back in 1998 in Utah is very different. A lot has happened over the years. The economy has crashed which negatively affects college students. By the economy crashing, people lost their jobs which means the government loses their tax revenues that takes from the government funding of colleges which means college tuition increases. Overall prices have sky rocketed since the year 1998. She writes, “As an undergrad (University of Utah, 1998) I put myself through two solid years of full college tuition” (par. 4). Well, back in 1998 a Santa Barbara City College college unit wasn’t $49.00 plus other fees such as books. So yes, not many can say they can afford to attend two years of full college tuition without any kind of government aid or from their parents. Remarkably students who do have little income and receive help from other resource can successfully complete school just like Rock-Richardson. She proudly brags, “But I did. And I bought every single text book and pencil myself, too” (par. 5). In my perspective I don’t feel like it is wrong to be proud of yourself but attending college in the year of 2015, my math book alone was $200.00 used! My two years of college easily adds up to over thousands of dollars to attend college full time. Sometimes I feel like I can’t afford a pencil because of how much it is to have a seat in a blazing hot classroom with no air conditioning.