Community Colleges : CHANCE FOR A BETTER LIFE : Platform : Coping With Fee Increases, Fewer Classes : ONNA YOUNG; Pasadena City College, 21

I’m taking the general education core curriculum. The only trouble I’ve had is working it with my work schedule. That limits when I can take (classes.) Say there is a biology or a chemistry class. If it is a three-hour class and a three-hour lab in the afternoon--that may not be something I can take at all, because there is no way to be able to work and support myself and be able to take classes.

You end up spending $220 (a semester), and that’s really being conservative. It could be more, depending on what you’re studying. Other students and I--our parents will look at us and say, “I put myself through college.” But now, at least two-thirds of our paychecks are going to rent. Maybe 20 years ago, their rent was cheaper. Then you are dealing with the frustration of time: to go to work, to eat, sleep and do your homework. But work has to be a priority for a lot of people.

I wanted to be teacher, but seeing what has happened to them, it is really discouraging. And if I finish college, will there be a job there for me? It makes me want to just hang on to my job, and do the best I can with it. Where does the balance lie? Or, do I just stay where I am and attempt to make a living?