Opportunity Today, Prosperity Tomorrow

During the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, Julian Castro ignited passions and opinions about a number of significant and urgent items on the minds of the American public. 

The line that stuck with me most as a first-time educator was "you cannot be pro-business without being pro-education."

Opportunity today.  Prosperity tomorrow.

As a girl growing up in a small town in Kentucky, with a father who owned his own business, I was lucky when it came to my education.  I worked hard, and I earned scholarships and grants to cover my tuition to a private liberal arts institution.  I attended graduate school and assume responsibility for the debts I will owe for the next decade in exchange for that education.

I could not have attended any college without those funds.

But what if I had worked hard, and yet struggled to get those grades to earn that scholarship? Is that American dream allowed for those who can earn it through academic talent or write a check for the cost?

I am surrounded daily by students who know that their college education is a chance to be more.  That their diploma is a step up, a step out, a step forward.

My classes are filled with single moms who are attending college because a program helped them enroll, apply for financial aid and in some cases pay for their studies; with adults returning to college to earn their way to better-paying, more fulfilling and more stable careers; with students who are the first in their families to attend college; who are taking on students loans on their own and working to graduate early in order to minimize that amount of debt.

I have seen students in my classes, bright and eager, participating in discussion during the first week, explaining the very specific career goals they have in mind.  They want jobs; they want stability; they want a path to independence and success.

Those same students would come by my office to read from my books because their financial aid hadn't come through yet, and they couldn't afford their textbooks without it. 

Those same students dropped from my class rosters last week.  Their financial aid applications were not approved, and they had no way to pay for their education.

I don't know where those students went, or what will happen to them.  Will they try again next semester? Will they go home, defeated? Do they have anyone to guide them or help them?  What will become of those career goals they shared with me?

MY STUDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO LEARN.  My students have the right to an education.  I'm not saying that it should be free, but they should NOT be limited by their raw talent or ability to write a check. 

As Michelle Obama said last night, "When you walk through the door of opportunity, you do no slam it shut behind you."

MY STUDENTS are the engines of tomorrow's economy.  But they have to be trained, and they have a right to have the tools in place to help them find the path to be prepared.  They don't all have parents or mentors or raw talent and raw skill to find their way.  They need people and programs to show them that higher education is attainable, it is manageable, it IS WITHIN THEIR AMERICAN DREAM.

Opportunity Today. Prosperity Tomorrow.