this doesnt make sense, honestly. circular logic much?

you see you can’t beet it, it controlls you

beet as in the vegetable? this doesnt make sense. also controlls? really?

you dont controll it!

what are you even talking about?

live it learn it love it and endure the pain!

care to explain “ratzabc”?

Your post can help people understand how the “in state tuition” issue feels to a young person hoping to become a successful and contributing adult in Massachusetts.

You should be proud and happy to know that our school committee voted unanimously two years ago to support legislation making it possible for all Massachusetts residents to be treated equally in paying tuition at state colleges and universities. At least nine other states have laws like this, including states with large immigrant populations like Texas and California.

One reason residents of Massachusetts pay lower tuition than students from out-of-state is that their families pay taxes to help (inadequately) support the schools. On that count, you’re as much a resident as your classmates.

The other reason we offer lower tuition to residents is because we need an educated workforce, and we think resident students are more likely to stay and be productive. You have an A average and would probably be very successful in college and work. Massachusetts has been losing workers; with an aging population, we need all the skilled workers we can get. And our universities say they could educate the small number of students in your situation without increasing costs, so they’d actually gain more revenue if more academically qualified students could afford to attend.

I hope that this discrimination against undocumented students, which only started in 2001, will end soon.

Best wishes, Pat Jehlen

I enjoyed your story. I am a youth organizer and we are planning a information meeting tomorrow, March 20, about this issue. I hope you can come…

Just wanted to clarify that

Once again thanks to all the readers!

Sincerely,
BrAus

A year or two before our SHS correspondents were born, racial tensions reached a boiling point, closing down the high school for a few days. Now, those posting here are describe how they are enriched by our differences.

Somerville students have a distinct advantage over those in the New Hampshire and Virginia schools that Haley and aakash report on. The daily interactions that AB1334, Jeff, Jason and Vanredgrave describe prepare people to work effectively with the diverse society that they will enter and affect when they graduate.

There is a deeper way that these interactions benefit us as well. When we grow up in a family and a community that has only one culture, we learn to see the world in only one way. We take that view things for granted and don’t realize that the world is much more complex. We are less creative and less capable of understanding and resolving conflicts between groups.

When we have close friends from different cultures and with different life experiences, we have the privilege of seeing the world through their eyes. We realize that the world is richer and more complex than one sees on television or in popular-culture media. We are changed a little bit and can never go back to the single simplistic way that we saw things before. We are stronger in resisting the influence of politicians whose views are bounded by their own limited experience.

As tk80mb states and iaritza hints at, whenever people are together, conflict is inevitable, and it is more likely when people from different groups interact. But those very conflicts can produce creative solutions that benefit everyone. This happens when parties to the conflict look at it through each other’s eyes and commit to finding a solution that respects each other’s experience.

I would encourage everyone to try to form a real and deep friendship from someone that is not like you. The beginning of such a relationship may be the kind of shared interests that somervilleboy617 points to. It may be reaching out to someone when things get hard, as Marina92 talks about. Or it may be the process of resolving the very conflicts that initial kept us apart. For any reason, it is worth the effort.

If young people make that effort, they will be less likely to embrace the hypocrisy of those who reap the economic benefits that the immigrants produce through the work that they perform, while reviling and punishing those same immigrants. BrAus’s account of this hypocrisy’s consequences is accurate and compelling.

The invaluable diversity that our correspondents describe here makes Somerville special. But there are forces now at work that can undermine it. Somerville housing is becoming more and more expensive, while there are few jobs in the city that can pay a living wage. Many people who once lived here have been forced to move to other communities.

Our city’s political leaders appear to be indifferent to these changes. Maybe they really do care. But either way, they are doing little to ensure that housing is available for people of all incomes, and they are doing even less to bring jobs that can support families. If young people educate themselves about solutions to these problems, speak out, and become a political force to be reckoned with, they can make the difference that we all need.

You made a very important point: we all belong to more than one group. We have more than one identity.

That’s yet another reason why it’s good for people to accept–and not just accept but appreciate–people who are different.

To be honest, I don’t really understand your poem, but I think I can feel it, especially the last three lines. I hope you’ll write more.

You wrote about why friends are so important. I certainly couldn’t get by without help from my friends!

Here’s a question: Is it easier to be friends and to talk about personal things with someone else who is basically like you?