1.Planning for college.
Crystal comes from a middle-class family which is money-conscious. This is not surprising in the capitalist US society. If you have money, you are someone but if you lack money you can’t have a social status.
Crystal is a provident (prévoyant) person. She knows that she will need money to pay for her study so did jobs like pet-sitting and baby-sitting. She also applied for a job as a help-desk attendant in her future dorm.
The hard situation forces Crystal to manage to get a job and save up money. She understand that a degree is a way to improve her situation and she is ready to make all the sacrifices to get through.So, the crucial situation turns her into a very mature and probably independent young person.
- Putting the “work” in Work-Study
The second part of the document entitled Putting the “work” in “Work-study” means that “work” took an important part of Crystal’s life. Working became as much as crucial as studying.
On her first year of college, she got a scholarship which was useful to pay for college expenses. Her parents had to pay for her room and food expenses. She continued working 20 hours a week.
On her 2nd year, she had to share her room and save up money on her diet. Everyday, she spent less than 3 dollars to eat.
She kept working in the Games Room on Campus. Also, she was a blackjack dealer and became a tax-office receptionist. Despite all these jobs, Crystal still got some loans from her parents. We realize that she emphasizes the time she spent working and rarely speaks about her study. She is forced to get different jobs to survive/study. She doesn’t have the choice. She is courageous. Many students would / forbid/give up. Her working may have consequences on her studies. She may be tired, not attentive/sleepy in class.
A Final piece of help.
Really, she was a hard-working and serious student if we considers her results. She graduated with honours, which means that she got excellent grades at her exam.
She is proud of her achievement. Crystal keeps listing the many jobs she had to perform to make us aware ofthe difficulties a student has to face. She avoided student loans but owed her parents a huge sum of money.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, I can say that Crystal’s experience tells us that if we don’t come from an affluent family that’s almost impossible to avoid students’ loans. She had to work. She was lucky as she received a scholarship. But if her parents couldn’t help her financially she would have been in debts.
