Selfishness and Greed Know No Bounds

By Nicole Cobar

This week, I have been more pissed off than usual. The cause of my anger: Operation Varsity Blues. Operation Varsity Blues is what they are calling the recent college admissions scandal, where members of elite, rich, famous families paid millions of dollars to get their students in top universities.

What has been the most shocking to most people are the families involved in the scandal. Most notable is Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, two famous Hollywood actresses. To me, it is not who is involved in the scandal, but the actual scandal itself. Families paid millions of dollars to get their kids into schools. To actually get into the schools, they paid for test scores, fake athletic portfolios, and straight up bribes.

What bothers me the most in this situation is the fact that these are rich families. Rich families with connections. In all fairness, their kids do not need to go to a good school to get a good job, because their parents can probably get them one. On top of that, these families have money. They live in good areas. Since schools are funded by local property tax, living in a good area, where rich people live, means that you live in a good school district. A well-funded school system can provide a better education compared to a school with fewer funds. These parents had the money to hire tutors, academic coaches, and send their kids to summer programs. These families have the connections to give their kids the opportunity to prestigious internships or to work on a professional project. These things would have given their kids an edge in the college admissions process. But instead, these parents decided to buy their kid’s way into schools, totally neglecting to teach their kid the definition of hard work or the concept of fairness and earning something.

As someone who has no college funds, will be swimming in debt after taking out student loans for both a four-year and law school, someone who is working the hardest I can to receive and qualify for as many scholarships as possible, and trying to get into a good school on a low of a price as I can, this scandal really is grinding my gears.

These families deserve no mercy. They have every advantage, every opportunity, and yet they still cheat the system. This is ridiculous. America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, where everyone can make it with just a little hard work. Buying your way into college is not apart of the American Dream. I hope the hammer of justice falls hard on these families.