“The Odds are never in my favor!”

On Thursdays I spend my afternoon at Winslow High School splitting my time between a career prep class and a Sophomore English class where I spend my time tutoring individuals or small groups. This week I spent my time working with a sophomore, who I will call Jaz. Jaz and I have worked together a few times, establishing trust and a friendly relationship. This week she worked on finishing a slideshow for career prep class, where she researched The Art Institute of Philadelphia.  As she practiced her presentation for me, I found some of the college’s statistics troubling. The Art Institute of Philadelphia is a for-profit college with a 37% graduation rate, alumni who complain about the worthlessness of their degree, and little financial aid offered for their $25,000 yearly schooling fee. Jaz loves art and hopes to creativity in her future career, but her research left her upset. This lead to her asking me how schools like The Art Institute of Philadelphia are allowed to exist. I tried using ideas from the Hunger Games, a book she just read for a Book Talk in English class, in order to answer her question.

For those unfamiliar with the book series, The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future. After a series of natural disasters and war, the United States and Canada merged into Panem. Divided into twelve districts and the Capitol, the class divisions in Panem are blatant. The twelve districts represent the laboring class with the vast majority of citizens living in third world country conditions are constantly subjected to poverty, famine, and illness. The elite of society resides in the Capitol, where they indulge in luxurious food, clothes, and entertainment. Additionally, the Capitol’s residents have total control of production, goods, and profits. We had previously discussed the inequalities present in the book and talked about how close it mirrors reality- one’s class location is not about individual choice or effort , but actually a reflection of one’s access to power, privilege, and opportunity. People in the Capitol have the most access, while others are left without. The book portrays of the extreme gap between rich and poor in the most black-and-white way, with no allowance that the rich might have earned their wealth.  She joked about her bad luck, saying “the odds are never in my favor”- referencing the book’s famous quote, “may the odds be ever in your favor She did seem hopefully about other colleges, and has added  MECA – The Maine College of Art  to her perspective school list. Through this conversation, Jaz also knows how to check college accreditation and  promises to include that in her future college research.

We knew from Jaz’s research that approximately eighty-one percent of freshman at The Art Institute of Philadelphia are first generation college students. I found myself thinking of our student from The Chilean School (still yet to interview- he says he is busy with school) and how his college search would never include a school with shaky accreditation. An individual’s social class definitely affects the college application process.

I continued to think about Jaz on my car ride home. She had chosen this college based on a T.V commercial. Websites such as Youtube as well as TV  college advertisements are all colleges that offer degrees with limited value. I am happy that Jaz and her classmates have started their college search early and have the support of their teachers, though I worry still about deceptive institutions who prey on first generation college students by offering false promises broadcasted to their prospective students.