What is the Government trying to prove
This is something that I wrote a long time ago, just thought that I would let it out again
I wonder sometimes if the bureaucracy of the government has a purpose, and if the government really wants people to get a good education. I will tell you why I think this way. I applied for a federal student loan over the Christmas break so that I can continue to get my electrical engineering degree. I sent in what I thought was going to be my last piece of documentation the first week of January, but since the office there “gets thousands and thousands of faxes a day” (quoted to me over the phone), it wasn’t till the 15th of January that they actually put it in my file. Well I called this office in question on Monday asking politely the status of my file, I was told it hadn’t been touched yet since they only got the information they needed a couple of days ago. (you know it must sit there for at least 1 week before they touch it). I was very polite to them and the woman on the phone asked me to give her my contact phone number and she would try to push my application through. I thought that I was just blown off at the time since she hung up directly after I gave her my last digit.
Today however I go the call that my application was going to be processed today and I would know how much I was going to get that night. Guess what, I wasn’t assessed, I didn’t fill in the blanks right I guess. There is a list of things that they need before they will give me my money. One of these being all of my parents tax information, but wait a minute, wasn’t that the last piece of info I needed, didn’t my parents sign that piece of paper allowing them to get that information, isn’t that information in the government’s computer, why is it that they can’t just type in the Social Insurance Number and get the information. See the problem with that is that it would be too easy. Why do they have to do work, it is not like they owe me anything. Oh, wait, don’t they work for the government, doesn’t all of that HST, GST, etc, and the income tax that my parents pay, go into their pockets, shouldn’t they want to help us. Naw, I am just a student, I am a know-it-all, who doesn’t realize how stressful their work is. Well here is something new, I go to school, I take electrical engineering where I have 6 courses, and spend all day on campus, going to classes, labs, and doing assignments. When they go home after a hard days work (8:30 to 4:30 max), I am just getting started I never go to bed before 12 and I am still always behind. When they go home, they get to eat, socialize, and relax. If I do any of that I get behind in my work, and then I get stressed because I might not be able to pass. I am actually falling behind right now as I type this, but I am too pissed to do work.
I think that I have gotten a little off track, I was starting to talk about how the government in their infinite wisdom wishes to make me work for my money. Not to mention that I will have to pay it all back. Another thing that bothers me is that they don’t trust what I put on my application. When I stated that my parents were expecting a drop in income, they want the proof, written documentation. I should note that my father works some overtime, well a lot of overtime. But how is he supposed to know how much, the only known is his salary. For example just this Christmas he got an infection and had to have surgery, guess how much over time he in the last month NONE, so how in the F@*k am I or he supposed to know how much he is going to make at the end of the year. He is lucky to be getting what he is, he can hardly walk still, and he is not the type of person who is going to milk it for all it is worth, he WORKS, and will go crazy if he isn’t working or doing something. So you might say that I should guess, put down how much he made last year, or even add a couple of bucks, but then I don’t get the money I need, I am a student, a student with a workload that is so intense that i have no time for the luxury of a job. Well then just leave it and prove that this is the only income that he is going to get for sure, well you see, and I quote, “If the income tax returns confirm a higher income than earlier projected over awards will be assessed”. This means that when my parents file the income tax, and Dad did have some overtime I will be asked, probably by a rather large man, to give some money back. But wait isn’t this a loan, aren’t I going to be giving it back anyway, aren’t I even going to pay interest, wouldn’t it be better of them to give me lots and get it out of me in the end. Naw, it is better to make me suffer now and then if I get my education, take it from me.
Did I mention that I am in Electrical Engineering? I think so, guess what, it is projected that I will be making $40000 as a starting income (I didn’t get that). Guess what that is higher than the average in Nova Scotia according to StatsCan. So why do they want to pick on me, it is not like I have bad credit, not like I have ever defaulted on anything, I do have a credit card and have never been late in paying it, actually they raised my limit this month. I also have a line of credit and have always paid the interest. So why is it so hard for me to get some help. I know one example that is the reason I am so angry, a girl I know never has trouble getting a student loan, actually she got soo much she could stay in residence, pay her tuition, and get a new $2000 computer, and still have spending money for the year. I on the other hand got $1500, not enough to pay for my BOOKS. This girl also was taking nutrition, the world does need these people, but it took her almost three years to pass first year chemistry, I passed it first try in high school. This however hasn’t stopped her from getting loans.
In closing I would like to say this, Screw you student loan, I am going to give you my info, just because I have to, the government has cut so much funding and the universities have raised the costs soo much that I can not live without the loan. I should note that in the end I will be graduating with about $30000 owed, which is low, scary eh’. (I actually came realy close to this figure in the end too, and I wrote this when I was in my second year)