Author: e.guerrero

Arielle Rodríguez tells us her transition story and the many complications she went through. From bullying in school to self-medicating, Arielle is now fully transitioned and happy after many years of battling against society and her own demons.

After experiencing constant oppression and homophobia in Venezuela, Maria and Wendy decide to leave their home country in order to find freedom. In this episode of Let’s Talk we’ll listen to their love story and their rocky path to finally being able to be out of danger.

Music

Is that your or are you, you – Chris Zabriskie

Writer 

Erlin Guerrero

Editor

Erlin Guerrero

For many aspiring college students in the United States, there are two options: go to a public school or slowly drown in debt. TAP, one of the few state aids given to public colleges, grants students a significant amount of money for college tuition at the beginning of the semester in order to help them obtain a college degree. According to statistics, nearly two-thirds of college students run out of money before the end of the semester, not to mention that 49.5 percent of them agreed that the root of this problem is not just that they are not receiving enough financial aid; it’s that the bureaucracy of it all is crippling them.

Most students, although residents of New York City, are dependent of their parent’s residency. Because TAP its state, and not federal, a majority of students are unable to file as independents because they do not fulfill the requirements.

Ashley Candelario, a Baruch student and NYC resident, satisfies the TAP requirements. However, because her mother does not reside in New York City, TAP it’s currently not covering her classes. “I am not being taken care of financially by my mother, kind of on my own here,” she explained, “but filing as an independent I am pretty sure TAP doesn’t allow you to do that unless you are an orphan, married with a child, or if you are a veteran, or if you are like at least 24 years old, and I meet none of those qualifications.”

TAP is only one of the many branches of state aid, but it is not the only one with a catch when it comes to money. A most recent example of this is the Excelsior scholarship which although it offers free tuition for students whose parents make 100,000 dollars a year, it chains you to New York City after college. Ashley expressed her concern regarding Excelsior, and explained that “The scholarship is under TAP a lot of people qualify for Excelsior but my eligibility depends on my mother’s residency, not mine.”

TAP it’s also full of limitations once you are under its help. As a college student, choosing two or more majors heightens your chances to succeed, but it deprives you of financial help. Ashley, although scared and now no longer receiving financial help, felt relieved that now she was finally free to “double major in peace.”  

Although there is an incredible amount of TAP rules and limitations, these are not taught to students. Because TAP is a convoluted process, it is inaccurate and too general to check the individual eligibility. Not to mention, there is a scarce amount of TAP or aid professionals in colleges, which hardens students’ experiences.

Shelly Ho, a college senior, voiced her concerns regarding the lack of information she received through college regarding financial aid, “I definitely feel like the rules behind financial aid could be better explained to me. Nobody ever sat me down and said: okay, here is your tuition, and how much you are getting, and how much you have to pay.”

Students seem to be either under the illusion of freedom or in a constant battle against contracts that fool them into believing they are given an option regarding state aid. However, their efforts are constantly dismissed and they lack the proper information in order to reach a solution.

In this time and age college is a necessity, anyone who does not have a college degree it’s 71% more likely to be unemployed, not to mention we’ve gained jobs in skilled fields, which require their employees to have, at least, two years of college education. College aid is under reform and will, hopefully, reach a point where the regulations become collectively beneficial.

I am planning on doing a religion podcast. I will be interviewing Yaindhi Alvarez, a woman who grew in a Catholic family and decided to become a Jehova’s Witness. I feel like the target audience would be anyone interested in Theology, or anyone who wants to see more of a personal perspective inside of religion.

The Daily is a New York Times produced Podcast that narrates the most important news story of the day. Hosted by Michael Barbaro, the twenty-minute episodes air five days a week and consist of a deeper insight on major breaking news stories. The Daily is powered by the New York Times and I would say the quality of the production is quite high, and the dynamic of the episodes hook the listener up.

Michael Barbaro, in addition to being the managing editor of The Daily, has been a New York Times Journalist for a while now. Him having experience in the field makes it easier for him to bring reporters that are covering the breaking news. I enjoy this thoroughly because it is more detailed than the writing pieces in the New York Times, not to mention you are able to listen to interviews with the subjects.

I listen to it on my commute to college in the morning and it is extremely helpful when I am sleepy and would most likely fall asleep if I read the news. His narration wakes me up and actually interests me to the point that I get involved with the breaking news and listen to the vocabulary he uses.