questions and thoughts

Someone I respect a lot (my mom) pointed out that I didn't get through college entirely without help, which is very true. I paid for college with the help of a special savings account with money contributed by me and my parents, free housing for one year from my grandparents, music and academic scholarships, private grants, student loans, several part-time jobs, honor quartet stipend money, and Pell grants.

Is it hypocritical of me to have accepted a Government grant, given to me for being poor, and then complain about funding for public education? I feel I need to explore this a bit more, to see if I can't find a way to reconcile my actions and my philosophy.

One question that arises is whether or not I would have finished school had I not been given financial assistance. I can't imagine that I wouldn't have, but I'm not sure. Maybe I would have stayed in state, to avoid paying out-of-state tuition at the University of Utah (which was reduced from being three times as expensive to only two times as expensive thanks to the Western University Exchange Program, or "WUE"). But had I stayed in state, I would not have received the quality of education I was looking for. I would have sailed through college as one of the brightest and best in my class--but I didn't want false accolades, I wanted to be challenged.

And challenged I was. I was barely admitted into the program, and in order to catch up with my peers, I woke up at 5:30 (sometimes 4:30) a.m. to practice until catching the 7:30 bus to school, then working from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., to arrive home at 10 p.m. or later to do homework. I could barely afford to eat, and the lack of nutrition showed up in my eyes, hair and skin. I drank powdered milk, and I was the thermostat Nazi--which drove my roommates absolutely nuts!

As memories are starting to flood my mind, I'm getting off topic. Knowing that there are those out there who would not be able to afford any sort of education on their own, I want to figure out how they might obtain it without wasting taxpayer dollars, or being submerged in liberal ideology while they are at school.

One thing is for certain: in spite of liberal claims, Big Government does NOT make it easier for the under-privileged to better themselves through education as it bows to teacher unions, fights the surge of charter schools, and sets up ill-conceived certification procedures for a number of fields which make it impossible for students to work at their own pace, forcing them to stay in school longer, driving up the cost for everyone.