America is the WORST freakin country in the world to be born into.

I am sympathetic to Xarick's situation. There does seem to be very little consideration to ordinary working class folk. Being one I think I experience frustration.
Roy Maybery

 

I agree partially with Xarick. My exception is USA being the worst place to be "born INTO".

Let me frame where I'm coming from first. I am white of mixed heritage, and I was raised by a poor single mother. I got my first job at 15 working 40 hours a week during the summer (illegally yes). I had to. I've had to pull pennies from the sofa to make bus fare. I've had to skip lunches. I've worked day labor. I've worked in factories, fast food, delivery routes, many things. I've never stopped working, and I've never had more than 2-3 weeks of continuous time off since age 15. I put myself through college with partial help of grants. I got loans to fill in the remainder. I was not eligible for academic scholarships since I was a poor student in high school due to my work hours and incredibly unstable home life. I've been paying my debts down for the past 8 years and I STILL have another 4 years and $21k of college debt.

I've had to bust my ass very hard for a very long time and it's discouraging to know there are others who were given free rides due to their race. As far as I'm concerned they were in the same boat as me but they were offered nearly 100x the amount of scholarships and grant rewards. I've had a number of friends who received free rides through prestigious universities. Have they had to sacrifice 12 years to pay off debts? Have they had to wait to buy a home? Have they had to give up vacations and little purchases to save money? No. At least not with the 3 friends I'm referring to.

I'm not complaining. I've begun to work myself out of debt, and I'm in the process of building personal wealth. I doubt I could have done it so quickly outside the US.

I just don't appreciate the "Shut up, quit your bitching, and get some loans" response. I especially do not appreciate anyone who would infer I got breaks due to my race. Loaning up to afford college is NOT the same as free tuition. It is a binding legal obligation that cannot be ignored or deferred. I can hardly believe the comparison or equivalency was made.

I appreciate Xarick's frustration. There's nothing he, you, or I can do about any unfairness in the system. I'm just tired of the automatic assumption that white people (white males in particular) are born with silver spoons, unlimited cash, and special opportunities. As a group, that might be true. As individuals, it is not.

 

Words of wisdom. There are people who would die to be in your shoes. Life is what you make of it and its not always fair. I don't remember the name of the previous poster, but he stated first you need to create some goals and execute a plan to accomplish them. The key word being PLAN here. Without a plan, you'll get distracted by the little things. Create a plan and shoot yourself toward your goals and don't let anything stop you from reaching them. You won't waste time worrying about what freebies someone else is getting because you simply won't care.

 

Not only that. Statistics clealry show that once conferred his degree will help him pay it back faster and easier since university graduates make in the average quite more money than H.S. graduates do. In America there are still a lot of opportunities.