Hnilmik 2010-03-07 06:51:37

I initially had no plans to protest whatsoever since the numbers were small last semester and frankly, my parents advised against me "wasting my time I could be using studying". Some of my peers and classmates even said "It's going to get worse anyways, so why waste your effort? You actions won't yield results any time soon". During the class before I decided to protest, my teacher mentioned the Civil Rights movement: "People thought things were only going to get worse due to the protests. I don't know about you, but I'm glad they protested since things are much better now than they could've been. I'm not going to press my beliefs on anyone, but I think you guys should have at least something in your lives worth fighting for."

Me, I chose to fight. I'll cut out the ancient history and say that if I didn't go to college, I would never have become a voice actress. Almost everything I learned to improve my abilities as a VA came from classes I took in college. By being in an environment more open-minded than my own household, I learned to kick ass and take names from the professors who encouraged me to do so and the same professors getting furloughs and laid off.

As a 1st generation Vietnamese woman, I am and will be the 4th person in my entire family to have degrees (I got an AA degree already; working on Bachelor's). The other 3 in my family are 2 aunts and my mom. These 3 people are the more successful ones since the rest of my family gave up their education, even when their families were doing everything they could to pay for their tuitions.

I'm 20 years old and this is technically my 3rd year in college. I planned to graduate this year, but the date kept being pushed back each time I can't get into the classes I need (prerequisites). My tuition is paid solely through financial aid and grants (which will be cut) along with scholarships and I still can't afford to stay in school--I'm paying more for less due to the furloughs. I sat in 20-30 different classes to get the 4 have now. I got turned away along with many because the professors weren't allowed to go over the cap, even when there were plenty of seats. I've seen students lose their chance to be in a class because they lost a game of rock-paper-scissors.

My schedule is far from ideal because the classes I have are the only ones I could get. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I wake up at 6 AM (8 AM - 10 AM class) and come home at 7 PM (4 PM - 6 PM class). I was/am behind in classes because I got my textbooks late as the result of uncertainty in being enrolled (not to mention those who thought they were going to be enrolled who bought the textbooks and didn't return them when they were rejected).

Yeah, I marched for a good chunk of the day to help my college get the coverage necessary to get the word out, but ultimately...

This is a voting year. I am a registered voter. I will not fecking vote for "representatives" who don't give a crap about the education I invested my entire life thus far into. That said, I, along with many others, have sent our petitions, emails, letters, messages, and even phone calls to our so-called representatives. We'll see what comes of it, but hey...

You guys can vote too, right?

I am voting AB 656 for the proposed funding for higher education in my state.

Nron 2010-03-11 17:16:14

Nice.

Glad to see people getting up and fighting for themselves. You deserve your education as much as anyone else. I threw away my chances for a college education long ago and i regret that on occasion.

Also German fandubbing eh? Very hot. ;P

Keep up the good work and always fight for what you got.

Nron