Dear Queenie,
I’m fifteen and I want to go to college when I get out of high school, but no one in my family has ever gone, not my parents or any of my sisters or brothers, and my parents say they can’t afford it anyway.
All my friends say I’m just being a snob and trying to show off how smart I think I am.
Queenie, do you think I should give up the idea?—Ambitious teenager
Dear Ambitious teenager,
No, I do not think you should give up the idea. For one thing, statistics show that people who have a college education have a far greater income throughout their lives than those who don’t.
I have never heard from anyone who regretted going to college, but I have had plenty of letters from people who didn’t go and wished later on that they had.
If money is a problem, plan to go to University of St. Martin to start. You will have a better chance of receiving government assistance and, if necessary, you can transfer to a college abroad later on. You will also be able to work part-time while you are going to school.
You could also do some research on the Internet. Many colleges in the United States have scholarships available especially for foreign students. You might qualify for one of those.
