Student Opinion

What I think New Mexico plan to provide tuition free college to state residents is a good idea because students don’t get much money and depending on the college it’s really expensive. It should be a public resource to primary and secondary school because at least students would be able to afford going to college.I think our state should adapt to a similar plan because there would be a chance for allot of students to attend college and would be more affordable. I want to attend college because I would be able to get a degree at something and would be able to get a good job . It will help me get a high paying job and would have the knowledge to help others and would be able to understand what to do.

I think whoever is capable and whoever wants to get a good job should go to college because it will help them get high paying jobs.They should be teachers, doctors, lawyer,etc.I think allot of universities across US are declining because of tuition fees and how college is expensive and not affordable. I think it is important for them to make college free and I think allot of people will consider going to college.I think it is worth the cost because the more people you get the more money will be made rather than fewer people attending but increased tuition.I think it would be more realistic with having assistance like Washington and Tennessee. Some groups of people should be helped with paying college tuition and maybe it will be a little more affordable for people.

Should College Be Free? :  New Mexico 

In this article, as the number of people joining universities in the United States is declining, the government of New Mexico is commencing an innovative experiment to stop the trend by introducing tuition-free college for all state residents, both the local and the immigrants. Although New Mexico is among the poorest states in the nation according to this article, it has probably come up with a dream come true plan for most students as states have failed to develop their innovation. The good thing with the New Mexico plan is that all state residents, including the new high school graduates and adults, are allowed to enroll in part-time studies regardless of their family income. Another benefit is that the program is open to all immigrants despite their status of immigration. The plan to treat college as a public resource similar to primary and secondary education will take off in July, and I strongly agree with the legislators treating college the same as primary and secondary education because they are student institutions and require the same treatment. The new state law has made the similarity possible, which approved the one percent of the state budget to go to public colleges and universities to cover tuition fees.
According to this article, there were critics from some legislators and other people questioning whether the revenue of oil and gas in New Mexico can secure funding to support the program beyond its first year. The recent war between Ukraine and Russia has made the economy of New Mexico grow as more funding has been made available due to oil as New Mexico is the second-largest oil-producing country. Although some states have adopted a similar program of covering some tuition expenses for some students, the New Mexico law outdoes them by covering the tuition and fees before even the application of scholarships and other sources of finances enabling students to use the additional funds obtains to cover for expenses such as food, child care or hostels. The program aims to reduce the students’ debt and focus on enabling students to look for other sources of funds without struggling to cover the cost of tuition. This will allow the adults who had dropped out of college due to economic reasons to continue their education. Also, the program is inclusive of prison inmates, unauthorized immigrants, and Native Americans. I think other states should adopt a similar plan as New Mexico to increase the number of students enrolling in universities and reduce college dropouts. According to the US statistics, most students drop out of universities due to a lack of tuition fees and upkeep money because most state universities are so expensive. Also, you find that most students in colleges fail exams due to a lack of time to attend class or revise for the exams because most of these students have to juggle between work and classes for them to be able to stay in colleges or universities, making them lose most of their class time to work. 
I think colleges are very important to attend, and everyone should be given a chance to attend. College is important because college people earn more than workers with only secondary education. A college degree holder will earn more than a worker with only a high school certificate. Also, colleges decrease the chances of unemployment, unlike a person with only a high school diploma. Another reason it is good to go to college is because college makes people become better citizens of that country. Earning a bachelor’s degree can improve the lives of those living around you since they volunteer so much in their community, unlike people with only a high school diploma. Also, I would recommend the government to have alternative schools such as technical schools apart from higher education. This is because some students from high school fail to reach the grade to go to universities, so instead of staying at home, they should be sent the technical schools to do technical courses.

I think about this all the time. I personally think that college should be free. Everything would be so much easier if it was that way. More students would be more successful and the college dropout rate would decline. More people would be more successful and would have better jobs. Students would also go to their dream colleges and get into the programs they want to get the career they want. But also there would be cons to this. I think tax prices would go up due to free college. So we would have to pay more in order to make the funds to cover tuition for a whole country. Also students would not value education, there would be a decline quality of college education, and students will start not taking college seriously. Students would have the idea of “Since I’m going here for free I don’t have to try hard enough”. College would be treated like high school for most people and not come to classes on time, skip class, and miss assignments.

The article I chose was “Why is Race so Hard to Talk About? One of the answers stood out to me when a student was asked how ethnic they are. The student responds with “ ‘Ethnic’ is a weird word. In practice, in the U.S., it can mean ‘not black or white’.” This only relates to me to an extent, because I am clearly black, but then there is the question of “Wait so are you just black?”, and I then have to explain which Caribbean island my family is from and how it’s usually never heard of, and while I am American my parents are not. It is interesting how people of color can sometimes be forced to present themselves and show how “ethnic” they are. 

Personally, I do not find it hard to talk about race. Since a child, I have noticed that my race is often a topic of discussion in many places. From reading about people like me dying on the news, to strangers being racist in video games, my race is not something I can hide or just chose to ignore for a day so I personally do not find it hard to discuss my race or the race of others. I am able to understand that people of color go through racial biases all the time, unfortunately. However, I understand how talking about race could make someone uncomfortable if they had any experiences or if they know someone who dealt with racism. Talking about race in terms of things like police brutality or the increasing number of hate crimes against the Asian community is hard because violence and hate crimes are sensitive subjects, but there are other things about race that can be talked about. I also think it can be hard for people to discuss this subject in general because they might have their own prejudices that need to be worked on, and when confronted by them it can be uncomfortable. Also, when someone’s privilege is talked about it can make them uncomfortable to the point where they do not want to discuss it, or invalidate someone’s experiences because they themselves “aren’t like that”.

To make conversations about race easier, smoother, and less awkward I would try to be as unbiased as possible, but personally, while I would want the person I am having a conversation about race with to be as comfortable as possible, I do not think it is my responsibility to make race-related conversations easier for people. 

At first, I could not think of anyone I would want to have a conversation about race with.  The question had me stumped as I began to think about all the race-related tragedies in human history, but I realized I would not want to talk to an aggressor of one of those instances. One person I would want to talk to about race would be Harriet Tubman, and one of the many things I would ask her about would be what was her perception of race as a slave and how did she view herself and others during that time. I would ask if race was also hard to talk about and who were the people talking about it.

The article that I chose was “Is Teen Mental Health in a State of Crisis?”.  I agree with the statistics at the beginning of this article that suggest that teenagers in the United States are in fact experiencing a mental health crisis. Many of my friends and even myself have expressed strong feelings of exhaustion or depression or anxiety from time to time. I think that a big reason that teens are struggling with mental health is because we are often overworked, and underestimate, but yet a lot is expected from us. Events such as the pandemic have only exaggerated the effects of social media, of isolation or the simple feeling of not having anyone to lean on, or just feeling lost and plain out confused. I also believe that schooling is also a major factor in the mental health of teenagers. We often are left to deal with large amounts of work on our own, with not enough guidance or time, i have also experienced having teachers who lacked communication or transparency which only added to the stress that I and I’m sure many other teenagers face daily.

I don’t necessarily think that the advice that is given to support teenagers going through mental health will guarantee a difference. Like the article states, mental health has a large stigma behind it, especially in minority communities, and these communities are were mental health struggles the most. I can personally attest to these stigmas, seeing as many people in my community frown on the ideas of therapy and counseling, or even medication, which are all important and helpful ways to battle mental health once it becomes a debilitating problem for teens. Even if we do express these issues to the adults in our lives many fully wont be able to understand, or relate to us. They even might know exactly how we feel but haven’t dealt with it themselves due to the stigma, many parents especially in my community have a terrible ideology that teens do not have a reason to be sad or upset, and that we have it “easy” which is wrong. I think the best form of advice for teenagers would be to seek professional help in the form of a therapist or their doctors. Those who are trained to aid those suffering with mental health will be most useful in solving or bettering the situation.

Personally, I’m not too such on how i cope with mental health, but i think having a schedule and routine is helpful, because it blocks out any confusions and gives you a routine to follow which helps for stability, sleeping regularly is helpful too. Overall having a day by day routine is very helpful when it comes to keeping your mind and body well. Making sure that we eat properly too is another way to maintain peace of mind, and a healthy body. Taking action and doing things like riding bikes or exercising is also another way to battle anxiety or depression. One thing that i think adults can do to help teenagers that may be struggling with mental health, is to learn to view teens as people to, with emotions, stresses, and differences. Adults often disregard the feelings and needs of teens due to stigmas and outdated traditions, and once they learn the faults in that, they’ll be able to connect and aid us in a way that WILL help those battling mental health. Schools need to learn flexibility and moderation when it comes to assignments, school hours, and deadlines, because instead of learning, most teens end up stressed and confused. There needs to be more consideration for teenagers, who already have big lives to plan ahead of them, while trying to grow and find out who they are.

“Don’t be hard on yourself, you’re doing okay!”

The text that called my attention the most from the New York Times link provided was “Is Teen Mental Health in a State of Crisis?”. The reason why this article called so much of my attention was because I myself as a young adult worry about others’ mental health more than my own. Mental health is something very big to me because I have lost two very important people in my life due to not having enough support and not being able to handle certain situations on their own.

This article begins with statistics indicating that teenagers in the United States are experiencing a mental health crisis. From my personal standpoint yes this is something that I have observed throughout my own life. As a teenager, I have struggled a lot to stay on task. I get easily distracted as a young teenager I get easily influenced into doing things I am not used to doing. After I do these actions I get into a panic stage, where I doubt my actions and I feel like I lost myself due to peer pressure. In my opinion, I think that teenagers are struggling with mental health because we as teenagers don’t have a strong mental capacity to deal with certain things or situations. Factors like the pandemic have made a difference because the pandemic has caused a lot of trauma to a lot of us. Other factors that we should pay attention to are our family treatments and the support we get from our loved ones.

 I think that the advice in this article is beneficial for teenagers experiencing anxiety and depression. No, this advice isn’t in line with how my friends and I support each other. We have our own method of understanding and advising each other depending on the situation. From my standpoint, I would add putting myself in other people’s predicaments to find the best way to support them and find a safe way to guide them to the correct decisions. I am a very conserved person I cope with anxiety and depression on my own. I don’t like to talk about my problems with anyone if it’s not my mother. I cope with anxiety, stress, and stress challenges by writing down my problems on paper and finding a solution within myself. I do this because the more you retell your problems out loud to others the more it concerns you and the more you think about it. I think adults in power should pay more attention to mental health among young people, especially in school environments. Some changes I would make in my life, are the way I go about certain situations. I tend to take things very personally I take everything to the heart!