my blog entry to be considered as a student blogger for Queens College (in which I will also get paid!!):
I would love to write about Queens College Students. Sure, we have a lot of diversity on campus if we are talking about cultural backgrounds but have you ever stopped to look at their personalities? Perhaps, because I am majoring in Anthropology I tend to observe people and the way they present themselves to me. I like to know what people think about the world, how they perceive it. And let me tell you, we have so much diversity in opinions and attitudes at Queens College. There is a particular group of people whom inspired me to write about Queens College students.
I recently attended a CUNY Board of Trustees emergency meeting where students and professors from across all of CUNY were invited to come and speak to the Board about why the tuition shouldn't be raised. When it was the turn for the QC students to speak, they went all out. And by that I mean, they spoke the honest truth. Well, before I go into explaining what they said, I should give you guys a little background about them: these group of students are very active around school. They are the ones you usually see around campus organizing rallies about tuition hikes, or offering events about interesting subjects such as homophobia, queens college history, modern feminism, immigration, among many other topics. My brother, who attends LaGuardia CC calls them "the radicals from Queens College", he is very diplomatic, and doesn't believe shouting and speaking your mind works with people such as the ones making the decisions about our tuition while sitting comfortably as unrealistic members of the Board of Trustees. I tell my brother that diplomacy doesn't work with dinosaurs because they keep raising our tuition. And I am so fed up with tuition hikes, and so are thousands of other students, but only a handful of them care to show up to these meetings and speak about it. And this is why I admire these infamous "radicals" from Queens College, because they speak up their mind. I look up to these group of people because they never stop believing it is possible, and they keep trying. I tell you, they are so famous that when they started speaking to the Board that day, the president knew who they were and where they came from.
They told the Board of Trustees should be on the side of students they are educating, not on the side of the State Goverment that is cutting funds.
They told them there was a time when CUNY used to be free for them, why cant it be the same for us today?
They told them to think about students who do not qualified for financial aid and have to pay their tuition fully, and work full time in order to afford it.
They told them to think about the meaning of CUNY itself, how it was created to serve the underprivileged, the minorities in NYC, and now these same people wouldnt be able to afford it.
In a world where I am constantly struggling between hearing my thoughts, following ideals, and questioning institutions, it is always nice to find people who are trying to stand up and be noticed among the static crowd. People don't have to agree with me, but I like to know you feel something too, and you speak up.
speak up for love
speak up for life
speak up for me
this is your life
speak out
speak up
speak loud
speak strong
speak clear
so someone can hear
this is your life
speak to the people
speak to be equal
speak to save
speak to the grave
speak to the living
speak to the dead
speak to the stars
speak to the hills
this is your life
that only you can live
-Jamaya Ewing
