I’m Only Human

Obligatory song reference here.

It turns out that I’m only human. I have fantasies of being more than that, but the reality of the situation is that I’m only mortal. There is only so much that I can do, even when I hope for a situation that I could work with. I may enjoy the possibility being more than I can physically accomplish, but advancement in that area is so far off into the future that there is no true hope for success. I’m stuck inside a body and a mind that refuses to cooperate with me, even when I attempt to adjust the situation by relaxing.

Having a nice day is a typical struggle. I figure that things can only get better knowing that I no longer have to be stuck in a school system that focuses solely on a broken grading system. How many people only succeeded in college by surfing the grading curve? The typical idiots that make it into a college system only made it by going through a banking form that is far too happy to provide student loans. I seriously doubt that even half of those loans won’t end up in default. So many loans are easily provided, even though many have a struggle working with the payment structure. Some days I wonder why I attempted to work on my higher education in the first place.

Anyone who attends college knows that it’s stupid in its general design. What originally was a system of furthering advancement in the pursuit of knowledge now has devolved into a glorified alumni farm that focuses solely on donations and is usually coasting on a sport payment system. While I can’t deny the nature of scientific advancement by the use of scholarly journals, a high majority of once great schools work with people that pay obscene amounts of money to attend what should become a public service. Having an educated population should be a requirement, not an option. While some would argue that twelve years of public education is enough, look at the dismal options that only holding a high school diploma provides. A bachelors degree is a requirement for most positions, even if the person is qualified in most forms.

While you could argue that I’m just bitter because I could only afford to attend a state school for a year, the argument has merit. There is only a limited form of jobs that I can access because I never finished college. I seriously want to continue my education, but the cost is far too high to justify the pursuit. The cost of a college education is ridiculous. The average amount of debt is over thirty thousand, and it only continues to rise. I only attended for a year and I racked up over half of that amount. It’s insane to require a degree when most can’t afford to pay it off.

My father worked his way through school. I’m glad that he was able to get through school, but the cost is far too illogical to work with now. This isn’t the nineties. Inflation and the rising costs of college has made it practically impossible to make it through school without student loans and scholarships. The requirements to maintain a scholarship are ridiculous as well, considering most of them involve maintaining over a 3.0 GPA, which can be difficult for most STEM fields. My argument may sound shallow and bitter, but I can’t help but be pissed that the system is only becoming more absurd in cost. My tuition rose in cost by over two thousand after my first year, which ultimately led to the decision to take the year off. The trend is only rising, which is only making it more difficult to warrant the need to return to school without the help of a government provided GI Bill.