By Kelli Reeder. America’s priorities are out of order. It seems that every year, government officials voice the need for a better education system. This cannot be ignored, and every year it seems to be pushed down on the list of priorities. A lot of people point to low teacher wages, poor quality elementary and high school classes or facilities as the biggest issues with education, but the issue with the biggest effect on America as a whole is the growing price of college tuition.
Paying for college is nearly the only thing that I’m working toward right now, other than trying to keep up in my classes.
Paying for college doesn’t always seem like a huge problem, but then I realize the true costs and trade-offs that come with it. Working is very important to me because that’s how I pay for school, but it’s funny how going to school and working plays out — I want to work as much as possible so I can pay for school, but I also want to have time to actually attend class, do well and succeed. By giving up hours of work, I get better grades, but I also can’t afford to pay for my next semester.

By Christina Fitzpatrick. Years ago, a troubled co-op board in Harlem rented me an apartment that was uninhabitable. 
I wrote a few letters, stopped people in the laundry room, and tried to bargain kindly, until finally I went downtown to a courthouse. The woman who spoke to me was harried and tired. She asked three questions before concluding I had no rights in the matter. She shouted, “Next!” 
Out of frustration, not willfulness, I stayed put. I kept talking. My eyes began to tear, then brim, like some damsel crashing a wedding with a gun.