It’s funny that when you start

Teachers tell you that you’re smart.

That you can go anywhere you please,

As if getting there will be a breeze.

 

You continue on your way,

Making good grades day by day.

You begin to think they were right,

And you keep your dreams in sight.

 

As graduation day looms near,

Your uncertainty fills you with fear.

You can have the smarts and activities.

But scholarships don’t look at these.

 

You have to be six feet tall or have red hair.

Major in math or science, or they don’t care.

Be a certain race or have a disability.

And your parents can’t have financial stability.

 

They don’t really consider your rank in your class

Or your thirty hour work weeks, which were a pain in the ass.

Your college courses and clubs might get a brief glance,

But if you’re considered normal, you don’t stand a chance.

 

They don’t care if you’re paying on your own,

Or if you have to take out loan after loan.

You’ll graduate college, tens of thousands in debt,

Maybe to end up unemployed and in a cold sweat.