Like many others on election night, I watched over the polling results anxiously. I spent the night in the comfort of my dorm room, as I watched Trump take over the electoral map. The weight of where I was began to take over me. I was at college, the first in my family to be there, as I watched the country vote for a man who wanted to get rid of the Department of Education, the very reason I could comfortably attend school.
Trump has vowed to get rid of the national Department of Education as a part of his platform, and give authority back to the state level when it comes to education. The department is in charge of distributing funding for students in poverty and students with disabilities. They enforce laws to prevent race or sex based discrimination in federally funded schools. They are also in charge of student loans and the Pell Grant. This grant, which awards up to $7,395 that doesn’t need to be repaid to students with exceptional financial need, is relied on by many in order to attend college, including myself.
While most agree it is unlikely for the Trump administration to get rid of the Department of Education, as it still needs congressional approval, it still serves as a marker of Trumpās promises going into his second term. The reason Trump has begun to attack the department is his belief that it is supporting the āwokeā agenda.
He has said, āIāll sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children.” Thus, using money as leverage in order to punish teachings he does not agree with. This belief that schools are āpushing the woke agendaā through teaching history is what led to Trumpās mission to get rid of all DEI efforts, the Department of Education and give all authority back to the states on education.
Hearing all of this come out has been incredibly difficult for me. Ever since I was a child, I loved to learn and I loved to be in school. I read a lot as a kid, first with my mother telling me stories, then taking any recommendations of books I could get from teachers to finding my own favorites among the shelves. I was a proud holder of a library card in elementary school, which I would frequent often. I couldnāt get enough. I would read about anything and everything. It didn’t take me long to start reading outside of just what the schools were teaching me. I was especially interested in history, and I went on plenty of journeys with characters unlike anything I had ever experienced. Nothing could diminish my love of learning.
I was always quite successful in school, and I knew I wanted to go to college. The only concern for me was I wasn’t sure what that would look like or if it was even possible. I lived with my single mother and grandfather, neither of whom attended college. I knew college was expensive, and my family made it clear I would have to keep working hard in order to pay for this dream.
Going to college has been a goal of mine for so long. I feel so grateful every time I get to go to class, join all these amazing clubs on campus and experience things I thought would be impossible as a kid. For me, college was never just the next step after high school. It was an opportunity that those in my family didn’t have. It was the hope of a new future. It was something completely new, something no one knew how to prepare me for.
Without federal aid, I would not be living the life I have. This money eliminated a lot of my fears regarding college growing up. Now, I fear for all of the kids who were in the position I was once in. Who has to look at their future with uncertainty. Who knows of their goals but are unsure where they can turn for support. The kids in school right now, who love to learn, who crave knowledge, but donāt realize the barriers the Trump administration wants to surround them with. I hope they can fulfill their desires to learn, no matter what.