College Students Trapped by Credit Card Debt
My best friend from my childhood is a marketing agent’s dream. Constantly duped and deceived by flashy ads and predatory marketing, this kid will buy anything - usuall on credit. At last check, my friend had maxed out 4 credit cards to the tune of over $30,000. Very rarely did the money go for something necessary, like accommodation or food, but usually was spent on a multitude of gadgets, toys, and other assorted ‘guy-stuff.’ CDs, a subwoofer, X-boxes and PlayStations, new rims and tires…he even whipped out the plastic to cover the $5,000 for his girlfriend’s new boobs! In my humble opinion, this was probably one of his wiser purchases, but still highlights the fact that my friend has a serious problem managing his finances. Unfortunately, my friend is not alone, but is one of thousands of unassuming college students trapped by credit card debt.
Potential problems caused by lousy credit history can bite hard. They include: dropping out of college, physical and emotional health problems, family conflicts, bankruptcy, job rejections due to bad credit, loan denials, inability to rent apartments, graduate school rejections, and even suicide (Manning, 160). About 3 – 4 percent of college students suffer from serious credit problems (Manning, 160). While this number may seem small, that translates into 304 students just at HSU alone (4% of 7611 total students). College campuses make fertile feeding grounds for predatory marketing strategies. College is a time of self-discovery, when many students are enjoying their first real tastes of independence away from the home. For many, obtaining that first credit card is a natural step in establishing financial sovereignty. The fact of the matter however, is that college kids are also more prone to naivety with credit cards, which often hide the true costs of buying on credit.
According to the Nellie Mae Corporation (a division of the federal Sallie Mae fund), over 95% of graduate students have credit cards, with the average student owing $4,776 in debt. 20% of those graduate students have debt between $6,000 and $15,000, and 6% have debt greater than $15,000.
By allowing the reader the "[privilege of] the soldiers experience" (Chattarji) it shows how difficult it is to get rid of the weight as begins to define you and the more it becomes a part of a person the harder it is to remove an aspect of yourself. In his repetition, O'Brien wants to give readers a deeper meaning into the everyday struggles of soldiers. He portrays the ways that soldiers were effected in the war and focused on the burdens that developed. O'Brien highlights how war changes those involved as "[the individual dreams of soldiers rise and fall and] their hopes riddled by disillusionment, their fantasies broken by shrapnel edged realities" (Timmeran). Wartime altered soldier’s perception and caused them to develop these emotional and physical weights that followed them for years. When many solider returned they were now stuck with daily burdens that had started since the day they landed in Vietnam. Constantly, these soldiers endured the long lasting results of participating in the war and unable to escape or forget the weight that they endure. "The Things They Carried" serves as a constant reminder to readers about the true realities of soldiers and the impact of war. How soldiers are not stable as they return home because of these weights that have become a part of them and how simple acts such as carrying around a weapon has now manifested itself into an emotional burden that will not leave. Often the realities of being a soldier are not portrayed accurately but O'Brien attempts to put into perspective what it really is like to go through warfare by drawing on his own experiences as a foot
In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, each soldier carries many items during times of war and strife, but each necessity differs. This short story depicts what each soldier carries mentally, physically, and emotionally on his shoulders as long, fatiguing weeks wain on during the Vietnam War. The author Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran, an author, the narrator, and a teacher. The main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is a Vietnam War soldier who is away at war fighting a mind battle about a woman he left behind in New Jersey because he is sick with love while trying to fulfill his duties as a soldier to keep America free. Tim O’Brien depicts in “The Things They Carried” a troubled man who also shoulders the
The weights of desires, fears, and responsibility place great amounts of pressure on an individual. The soldiers in “The Things They Carried” all around lug a great deal of heavy weaponry and equipment. But the heaviest items are intangible things such as their emotions, shame and reputations. These intangible items cannot be discarded and thus, the men continue to “hump” by enduring their weight for the remainder of their lives. Lieutenant Cross realizes that the men “carry these things inside, maintaining a mask of composure” (369) and that unfortunately, the only way to release these things is death.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
In The Things They Carried, there are many emotional burdens that each solider has to withstand. These burdens are, for the most part, physically present in everyday life as a soldier, while others, like the love of someone back home, may not be as physically noticeable. The book follows the life of Lt. Jimmy Cross, the leader of a regiment fighting during the Vietnam War.
Modern day American capitalism is founded on the concept of credit. Credit, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “ Confidence in a purchaser’s ability and intention to pay,displayed by entrusting the buyer with goods or services without immediate payment,” (Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from Dictionary.com website). This pent up credit is what causes consumer debt to swallow individuals whole, robbing them of their financial security. This consumer debt, defined as “ Money owed by individuals, generally for goods or services that they have purchased,” has become a norm among our society (Consumer Debt. (2010). The reason as to why consumer debt is becoming a prime concern for Americans is the inability to make payments, predation of citizens by credit card companies, and how immediate relief leads to disastrous long term results.
...for the first time. Brother threatened to leave him if he didn’t touch it. Doodle cried out, “Don’t go leave me, Brother”. This is viewed as a negative characteristic.
Student loan debt makes up a large portion of the debt in this country today. Many defaulted loans are the demise of high interest rates, poor resources to students in educating them on other avenues and corruption in the governmental departments that oversee education and financing. There are many contributing factors that lead to the inability to pay off student loans which need government reform to protect the borrower’s best interests.
Although their physical loads did not weigh the soldiers down, they definitely became their necessities. Certain physical burdens became items that helped them escape from the reality of being at war. Even though these men had things they had to carry, they elected to carry more. The items they carried were intended to illustrate aspects of their personality. All of them carried great loads of memories, fears, and desires. These abstract objects were an essential part of them and therefore could not be put down. They continued to carry these emotional burdens along with them throughout the war. And as Lieutenant Jimmy Cross came to realize, “It was very sad…the things men carried inside. The things men did or felt they had to
Kayla Webley proves her argument by using strong and persuasive validations. One of her validations is that most people can afford their student loans. She also states that only a small handful of graduate students leave school with an unbearable amount of
In The Things They Carried, an engaging novel of war, author Tim O’Brien shares the unique warfare experience of the Alpha Company, an assembly of American military men that set off to fight for their country in the gruesome Vietnam War. Within the novel, the author O’Brien uses the character Tim O’Brien to narrate and remark on his own experience as well as the experiences of his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company. Throughout the story, O’Brien gives the reader a raw perspective of the Alpha Company’s military life in Vietnam. He sheds light on both the tangible and intangible things a soldier must bear as he trudges along the battlefield in hope for freedom from war and bloodshed. As the narrator, O’Brien displayed a broad imagination, retentive memory, and detailed descriptions of his past as well as present situations. 5. The author successfully uses rhetoric devices such as imagery, personification, and repetition of O’Brien to provoke deep thought and allow the reader to see and understand the burden of the war through the eyes of Tim O’Brien and his soldiers.
Credit card debt is one of this nation’s leading internal problems. When credit was first introduced, and up until around the late 1970’s, the standards for getting a credit card were very high. The bar got lowered and lowered to where, eventually, an 18 year-old college student with almost no income and nothing to base a credit score on previously could obtain a credit card (much like myself). The national credit card debt for families residing in the United States alone is in the trillions (Maxed Out). The average American family has around $9,000 in debt, and pays around $1,3000 a year on interest payments (Maxed Out). Many people have the concern today that these interest rates and fees are skyrocketing; and many do not understand why. Most of these people have to try to avoid harassing collecting agents from different agencies, which takes an emotional and psychological toll on them. While a lot of the newly recognized “risky” people (those with a doubted ability to make sufficient payments) are actually older people who have been customers of certain companies for decades, the credit card companies are actually consciously targeting a different, much more vulnerable group of people: college students. James Scurlock produced a documentary called Maxed Out on this growing problem, in which Senator Jack Reed of (Democrat) of Rhode Island emphasizes the targeting of college students in the Consumer Credit Hearings of 2005
It is a norm and expectation in society today for students to pursue higher education after graduating from high school. College tuition is on the rise, and a lot of students have difficulty paying for their tuitions. To pay for their tuitions, most students have to take out loans and at the end of four years, those students end up in debt. Student loan debts are at an all time high with so many people graduating from college, and having difficulties finding jobs in their career fields, so they have difficulties paying off their student loans and, they also don’t have a full understanding of the term of the loans and their options if they are unable to repay.
The theme of emotional weight and its effect on soldiers in the Vietnam conflict is one that O'Brien tackles. By placing physical items next to intangible things like emotions in a list format, O'Brien forces his reader to acknowledge the weight and effect of both of these things on the person who carries them. Lt. Jimmy Cross' inner fear that he was the cause of Ted Lavender's death was symbolized by Martha's pebble and letters. He felt that when he burned the pictures he was conquering his fear, even though no one can simply burn their emotions away. To a certain extent, these men are defined by the things that they carry, "And for all the ambiguities of Vietnam, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was at least the single abiding certainty that they would never be at a loss for things to carry," (O'Brien, 16).
Forensic science is the employment of science to solve crimes. Forensic scientists use evidence from the crime scene to track the criminal down or determine the guilt or innocence of a suspect on trial. Some evidence examples that forensic scientists use for their job include fingerprints, footprints, teeth marks, blood, semen, hair fibers, bullets, broken glass, knives, and guns. Other useful pieces of evidence criminals are less likely to think about are descriptions, provided by the coroner, of incisions and bruises on the victim’s body. These descriptions can provide clues to the scientists on what kind of weapon was used for the crime. Before anyone can begin doing all this, however, they must receive an education.