Letters to the Editor: Go ahead, major in English. Just don’t go into debt to do it.
In June, I received a letter from a professor who recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. At the time, he was working in the U.S. Air Force. In his letter to me, he said that many of the young people he meets are looking for a job in science, engineering, and technology. The military is offering training, but only if they have a high school diploma or equivalent and a good grade-point average. As he said: “I believe that our nation’s youth should have the opportunity to become successful in many areas of learning. If they cannot do that, then they should not have the opportunity to work in the military.”
The letter was signed “Ladies and Gentlemen.”
I am sure that some young people like him are out there, but I also think that many like him, especially those who have an interest in science, are out there, too.
Let’s face the facts: We have a lot of smart young people out there who don’t have access to educational opportunities because they live in poverty. There are many who don’t have the opportunity to go to college because they are not from a rich family or because their parents have no money to pay for college tuition. There are many others who are not allowed into the military because they are not rich enough to pay for a college education or because their family doesn’t have enough money to pay for tuition. And there are likely a lot out there who are not allowed into the military because there are people out there who know that a lot of their friends are not allowed in because they are poor or have a criminal record or don’t have all the money in the world.
And so I say: Go ahead, major in English. Just don’t go into debt to do it.
We have many fine people in this country that are willing to serve
