I initially wrote the following essay for a "letter to the editor" assignment in my creative nonfiction composition class. It's in response to an article published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the reduction in Georgia's HOPE scholarship. I don't enjoy getting this political, as naturally anything you try to write is stricken with controversy. But for this assignment, I didn't have much of a choice.
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the article “Less HOPE becomes a fact” published in the March 11th issue of your newspaper, as well as most of the other letters that have been sent in on the same issue since that time. While your article did try to present both sides of the issue, I got the impression that you think there are many more negative aspects to this change than there are positives. At least, the vast majority of the Georgians that have since voiced their opinions on the changes are saying exactly that.
I disagree. Since HOPE was already suffering financially, something had to be done to keep this program alive, and I think the changes that were made are very logical. To begin, I have to honestly say that I am getting so tired of listening to people complain about how all of the scholarship money is disappearing, and that they won’t be able to afford college. As you mentioned in your article, Governor “Deal said HOPE would still be one of the most generous scholarships in the country.” I think most Georgians don’t realize how right he is! The people complaining the loudest don’t know how good they already had it, and still have it.
Let me tell you a personal story to illustrate. After graduating from high school in Wisconsin, I moved out West and lived in Montana for about a year as I paid my way through a non-accredited Bible Institute. I’ve also lived in Colorado for a little less than half a year, and then I moved down here to Georgia to pursue my girlfriend. After a semester of working and a semester of school I eventually married into instate tuition, but not until after I’d paid dearly for a full semester at out-of-state prices. Another two semesters later, my hard work paid off in grades high enough to qualify me for the HOPE scholarship. Now, between HOPE and Financial Aid, I’m almost going to school for free. Even if I had stayed in Wisconsin and received instate tuition, there is no way I could have finagled a financial deal as perfect as the HOPE scholarship is currently giving me.
The reasoning that I hear the most when the horrors of the new changes are referenced is that high school students won’t be able to make the grade and/or that the new, higher requirement of a 3.7 GPA will discourage them from even trying. My response is that if they give up that easily, then perhaps they don’t deserve to receive thousands of dollars in scholarship money anyway. Yes, I said it: if these students aren’t willing to work for a decent grade, then they probably don't deserve to have the money. I’m sorry, but that’s the way the world works: you have to work if you want to get somewhere in this life. We might not like it, but that's just the way it is.
A 3.7 GPA in high school is achievable by most students willing to do the work. A 4.0 is only an A average, not even an A+ average. Oh and by the way, the 3.7 number getting bandied around is only required for a full scholarship. You can still get the vast majority of your schooling paid for with a lower GPA.
Okay, sure, maybe you are a high school student and you can’t maintain those kinds of grades while taking a course load filled with AP classes and other advanced courses. But if you really are worried that an AP course will destroy your GPA, don’t take it. If earning the HOPE scholarship and doing well in college is important to you, then you can achieve it. Focus on the basics, and keep your GPA up. The most important thing is, you have to want it. Make the decision to succeed, put in the work required, and you will achieve your goal.
Admittedly, there may be a few hiccups in the plan I just laid out, and several people have taken the time to point these out. For instance, some people have mentioned that if you make a serious mistake in one class, your entire GPA can be destroyed. Also, some parents have pointed out that there are teachers in the school system that refuse to teach, and that the education of their children suffers as a result. I agree that these are very valid points, and should be addressed. For instance, perhaps the lowest two or three classes could be dropped before a high school student's final GPA is calculated. As for teachers that refuse to teach, the schools themselves should address that issue, because it should not actually be an issue.
Also, there are some students in Georgia's high schools that are the main bread winner for their family. These are the people that need the scholarship money the most, but obviously they have so many distractions and responsibilities outside of the school that it is difficult for them to achieve the standards set by the HOPE scholarship. While that issue is too complex for me to address in this letter, perhaps something could be done to factor in all of these responsibilities.
There are several more points in your article that I disagree with, but I’d like to focus on the sentence which reads: “Parents are telling their kids to apply for loans and jobs.” In the context of the paragraph, I can see that you meant this negatively. Two sentences before, you used the word “scrambling,” which has a decidedly negative connotation. In the last sentence in the paragraph, you refer to people considering going out of state for college, which we all assume would be detrimental to the school system and the state as a whole. Like I said, you meant it in a negative sense.
But can you please explain why we should view this negatively? Since when is there something wrong with getting a job and working your way through school? As I just expressed earlier in this letter, you have to work to get ahead in this world, and most of the time, you have to work hard.
Again, if you will, let me illustrate with a personal story. When I was 12, I realized that if I wanted to have my own video game console, I was going to have to buy it… so I got a paper route. When I was 14 I realized that if I wanted to have my own car when I turned 16 that I was going to need to buy it. My parents wouldn’t be able to afford one. So I got a job at a grocery store, and started saving my money. I worked all of the way through high school, pursued my passions in sports sports, and still got an 11.3 GPA. Of course, that’s on a 12 point scale, which equates to about a 4.2 or 4.3 on a 4 point scale.
I have held a part time job the entire time I’ve been in college, and I’ve worked hard to pay for my living expenses and to minimize the number of student loans I have to take out. And let’s face it: student loans are a necessary evil for the vast majority of Americans attending college, at least to some degree.
I think that Governor Deal did what he had to do to preserve this scholarship for those students with the determination to work hard for their education. In fact, it is my hope that these changes in the HOPE requirements will help motivate teens across the state to set a goal and work hard to achieve it, because that’s the way the world works. You must work hard to get ahead. Your parents won’t always be there to take care of you and pay for all of your expenses.
In fact, maybe your parents can’t afford to send you to college. Are you going to let that stop you? Maybe your dad will lose his job next year. What will happen to your education then? We shouldn’t be giving free money to people just because they think they deserve it. We should be rewarding hard work and determination, and the HOPE scholarship as it currently stands does just that.
Your Turn: Do you have an opinion on the HOPE scholarship changes? Please feel free to voice it below!
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| Protesters at the Capital Creative Commons Photo Credit |
I am writing in response to the article “Less HOPE becomes a fact” published in the March 11th issue of your newspaper, as well as most of the other letters that have been sent in on the same issue since that time. While your article did try to present both sides of the issue, I got the impression that you think there are many more negative aspects to this change than there are positives. At least, the vast majority of the Georgians that have since voiced their opinions on the changes are saying exactly that.
I disagree. Since HOPE was already suffering financially, something had to be done to keep this program alive, and I think the changes that were made are very logical. To begin, I have to honestly say that I am getting so tired of listening to people complain about how all of the scholarship money is disappearing, and that they won’t be able to afford college. As you mentioned in your article, Governor “Deal said HOPE would still be one of the most generous scholarships in the country.” I think most Georgians don’t realize how right he is! The people complaining the loudest don’t know how good they already had it, and still have it.
Let me tell you a personal story to illustrate. After graduating from high school in Wisconsin, I moved out West and lived in Montana for about a year as I paid my way through a non-accredited Bible Institute. I’ve also lived in Colorado for a little less than half a year, and then I moved down here to Georgia to pursue my girlfriend. After a semester of working and a semester of school I eventually married into instate tuition, but not until after I’d paid dearly for a full semester at out-of-state prices. Another two semesters later, my hard work paid off in grades high enough to qualify me for the HOPE scholarship. Now, between HOPE and Financial Aid, I’m almost going to school for free. Even if I had stayed in Wisconsin and received instate tuition, there is no way I could have finagled a financial deal as perfect as the HOPE scholarship is currently giving me.
The reasoning that I hear the most when the horrors of the new changes are referenced is that high school students won’t be able to make the grade and/or that the new, higher requirement of a 3.7 GPA will discourage them from even trying. My response is that if they give up that easily, then perhaps they don’t deserve to receive thousands of dollars in scholarship money anyway. Yes, I said it: if these students aren’t willing to work for a decent grade, then they probably don't deserve to have the money. I’m sorry, but that’s the way the world works: you have to work if you want to get somewhere in this life. We might not like it, but that's just the way it is.
A 3.7 GPA in high school is achievable by most students willing to do the work. A 4.0 is only an A average, not even an A+ average. Oh and by the way, the 3.7 number getting bandied around is only required for a full scholarship. You can still get the vast majority of your schooling paid for with a lower GPA.
Okay, sure, maybe you are a high school student and you can’t maintain those kinds of grades while taking a course load filled with AP classes and other advanced courses. But if you really are worried that an AP course will destroy your GPA, don’t take it. If earning the HOPE scholarship and doing well in college is important to you, then you can achieve it. Focus on the basics, and keep your GPA up. The most important thing is, you have to want it. Make the decision to succeed, put in the work required, and you will achieve your goal.
Admittedly, there may be a few hiccups in the plan I just laid out, and several people have taken the time to point these out. For instance, some people have mentioned that if you make a serious mistake in one class, your entire GPA can be destroyed. Also, some parents have pointed out that there are teachers in the school system that refuse to teach, and that the education of their children suffers as a result. I agree that these are very valid points, and should be addressed. For instance, perhaps the lowest two or three classes could be dropped before a high school student's final GPA is calculated. As for teachers that refuse to teach, the schools themselves should address that issue, because it should not actually be an issue.
Also, there are some students in Georgia's high schools that are the main bread winner for their family. These are the people that need the scholarship money the most, but obviously they have so many distractions and responsibilities outside of the school that it is difficult for them to achieve the standards set by the HOPE scholarship. While that issue is too complex for me to address in this letter, perhaps something could be done to factor in all of these responsibilities.
There are several more points in your article that I disagree with, but I’d like to focus on the sentence which reads: “Parents are telling their kids to apply for loans and jobs.” In the context of the paragraph, I can see that you meant this negatively. Two sentences before, you used the word “scrambling,” which has a decidedly negative connotation. In the last sentence in the paragraph, you refer to people considering going out of state for college, which we all assume would be detrimental to the school system and the state as a whole. Like I said, you meant it in a negative sense.
But can you please explain why we should view this negatively? Since when is there something wrong with getting a job and working your way through school? As I just expressed earlier in this letter, you have to work to get ahead in this world, and most of the time, you have to work hard.
Again, if you will, let me illustrate with a personal story. When I was 12, I realized that if I wanted to have my own video game console, I was going to have to buy it… so I got a paper route. When I was 14 I realized that if I wanted to have my own car when I turned 16 that I was going to need to buy it. My parents wouldn’t be able to afford one. So I got a job at a grocery store, and started saving my money. I worked all of the way through high school, pursued my passions in sports sports, and still got an 11.3 GPA. Of course, that’s on a 12 point scale, which equates to about a 4.2 or 4.3 on a 4 point scale.
I have held a part time job the entire time I’ve been in college, and I’ve worked hard to pay for my living expenses and to minimize the number of student loans I have to take out. And let’s face it: student loans are a necessary evil for the vast majority of Americans attending college, at least to some degree.
I think that Governor Deal did what he had to do to preserve this scholarship for those students with the determination to work hard for their education. In fact, it is my hope that these changes in the HOPE requirements will help motivate teens across the state to set a goal and work hard to achieve it, because that’s the way the world works. You must work hard to get ahead. Your parents won’t always be there to take care of you and pay for all of your expenses.
In fact, maybe your parents can’t afford to send you to college. Are you going to let that stop you? Maybe your dad will lose his job next year. What will happen to your education then? We shouldn’t be giving free money to people just because they think they deserve it. We should be rewarding hard work and determination, and the HOPE scholarship as it currently stands does just that.
Your Turn: Do you have an opinion on the HOPE scholarship changes? Please feel free to voice it below!
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