“Could I claim I’m Greek?” I call out to my mom on yet another Saturday spent searching for scholarships. My step-grandmother is Greek, but at this point I’ll try anything. My mom looked at the list of scholarships for Greeks and African Americans, plus those for disabled, the poor, and even one for making a prom dress from duct tape. None applied to me. There was a scholarship awarded for an essay about feminism, but that was only for the daughters of members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

“I don’t know,” she replies returning to her laundry. “Maybe I should quit my job so we can afford college.”

Her statement says everything. There seems to be a huge gap in the whole getting-into-college process. Why is it that the rich can easily get in, the poor can if they try (since scholarships and financial aid are available), but the people in the middle just have to take out loans and be in debt for the rest of their lives? America has it in for the middle-class, and not just about college. I want so badly to go to a college prep program but my family can’t afford it and we don’t qualify for financial aid. I sometimes wish my parents made less money, so I could go.

Shouldn’t there be help for those in the middle, for people who aren’t a so-called minority or who have an average salary? I have a lifelong dream of graduating Yale with honors and I’ll try to make that a reality no matter but at what cost?

I don’t like that people so focused on minority groups that they ignore everyone else. This reverse discrimination can’t continue in a country whose minority groups are rapidly growing. Everyone should have a chance to go to college and make their lives better. If only there were more need-blind systems that don’t look at a family’s income or their ethnicity, there would be more equity in attending college. Until then, I’ll keep on scrolling through scholarship lists, and start applying for student loans.