I’ve never been prompted to make a response to any Wespeak or opinion article from the moment I stepped on campus, and although I haven’t been here long, it’s telling how much this particular opinion article, by Ed Klein, affected me.
Listen, I’m going to be frank, you are a junior, there are things about Wesleyan that you know, and although you are free to express and promote your opinion, you’re going to have dissenters, and one of them is me.
I agree with the fact that we should all take pride in our appearances, which is what I took from your article, and that’s important. And I also enjoyed certain parts of your article, some parts were quite funny, especially the part about hipster guys and repping where we’re from.
But I just want to raise two points:
1. I know my fashion sense may hurt you, but I’m dressing in my own way to impress myself, and not YOU, so don’t judge me. If I want to go to class in my PJs, I’ll do that. If they happen to be mismatched, oh well. It’s my life, isn’t it? What is this, America’s Next Top Model?
2. One portion of your article really struck me as being misinformed and quite “stuck-up” for lack of a better term. Like I said before, you are a junior, by now you know the dynamics of this school and the bright students that attend it. As a financial aid recipient, I found that your comment about “$300 Italian loafers” was very insensitive, specifically when you said “if you’re on financial aid and not paying full price, then you probably have some extra cash lying around, so why not blow it on some high fashion footwear?”
At first I just wanted to blow it off and take it as a joke, but then I felt as you have spent your college career here, didn’t you learn anything about class? I am not talking about tact, although you may want to learn that as well, but just because I am on financial aid does not mean my family has disposable income to purchase things for me that I don’t need.
Especially when that $300 that could be used for shoes that I could use of for a couple of events can be used in more positive ways, like donating to a charity, or more immediately, feeding my family in Ghana.
You’re a smart person, I know you are, so please explain how you figure I have all this money lying around? Practically all my work-study money goes directly to the school, and my mom can’t afford to pay for any extraneous fees not covered by the grants, loans, and scholarships provided by the University. I wasn’t aware that I overlooked such a copious amount of money from my non-existent income, especially when I’m sitting here, hungry, wondering when I’ll have my next meal, since I’m working so much, my schedule isn’t flexible enough for me to go to MoCon. So could you please tell me where all this “extra cash lying around” is, because inquiring minds need to know.
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