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Monday, May 13, 2013

Can we still afford to dream?


Port Orford's little league field, as all little league fields, is supported by volunteers, coaches, managers, field preppers, concession moms and dads, sponsors of uniforms, bench builders and transporters. City fathers who see that  the premises are safe and cleaned up before and after the season is over, know that these were  dreams they had, and their cousins and fathers had before them. Keeping up the tradition of little league is a matter of honor for everyone involved.

Nobody ever complains that we are spending so much time and money and labor as a community to see that children experience what we experienced at their age. If we own a business, we'll support the team by writing up the cost of uniforms, awards dinner, trophies. The picture of the team will remain prominently in the halls of the business, to remind the community that this was a very good thing! Even if the team lost. Even if the team lost year after year.

Helping children fulfill their dreams is a natural high for a parent; for the community.

How often we buy stuff we don't need from a boy or a girl who comes to the door and tells us about this dream she/he's pursuing?  A child who dreams of becoming something or someone must be assisted to achieve that dream.

How about more basic dreams, about being safe, educated,  with access to great health care, to experience what every child should have in the course of his/her development?

When I started college, the cost of education at Los Angeles City College was $10 a unit. Everyone could afford  college then; and everyone who couldn't pay even the ten dollars received scholarships and other assistance.

Nobody I knew became bankrupt before they started their career.
When did education become a luxury?

10 comments:

Brian Miller said...

there are still some places that you can find an affordable education but that would mostly be secondary...if i did not get a grant to do my masters i could not...each class is $3300....x 12 classes....oy...and that is actually not bad...but i feel you in this...its going to become harder and harder...

Soumyendu said...

Hi Rosaria

Been following your posts for quite sometime now, and really glad to have you back!

Do keep this blog going!

ellen abbott said...

when did everyone have to have a master's just to get an entry level job? we must still dream. it's the only hope we have.

Perpetua said...

I so agree with you, Rosaria. Here in the UK university tuition fees are now anything up to £9000 ($13,500) a year and students have living expenses on top of that. There is some help for the poorest, but many students graduate with huge debts to be paid off at the beginning of their working life. Sigh...

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

I so agree with you that we need to give back and help younger generations achieve the dreams we were able to realize. My parents were not able to pay for college, but I got some help from my dying grandfather my first year and then after that had scholarships, loans and also had part-time jobs during the school year and full-time work in the summers. It was a struggle, but possible. But back then, my private college tuition, room and board came to about $15,000 total for five years for a bachelor's and a one-year Master's degree.
Today, the same degrees at the same school would cost about $265,000!! So it isn't possible for young people to go to college the way we did. They need our help in so many ways!

yaya said...

I shudder when I see the amount of student loans that will need to be repaid. It's hard if that student can't find a job after graduation. However, I will never give up dreaming, hoping, helping, contributing and cheering on the next generation.

Unknown said...

It's really scary how costly higher education has become. Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts has proposed a bill that would allow students to borrow money at the prime rate....the same as big banks do. I don't know if she'll be successful, but it is certainly a fair idea!

Phoenix said...

We have forgotten that the best way to accomplish dreams is to help others achieve theirs. As a friend of mine pointed out recently: All our dreams have become selfish. We are only interested in helping ourselves now through our dreams. And that hurts everyone. We must go back to realizing that when we help others, we help ourselves. We must re-learn that we are all connected.

Rob-bear said...

You gotta have a dream,
If you don't have a dream,
How you gonna have a dream come true?

From Rogers and Hammerstein's South Pacific

Pretty much says it. As you did, Rosaria.

Blessings and Bear hugs!
Bears Noting
Life in the Urban Forest (poetry)

Anonymous said...

Well in the UK, exactly one year ago when university fees went from £3000 per year to £9000. Incidently the same year the first of our three children started university. Fabulous.