Written by: Youeal Abera
Although I’m inundated with caffeine and stress,
As a student, there’s some things I’ve got on my chest.
You’d probably hate it if I sent this through a text,
So here’s my letter to Generation X.
We’ve fought and we’ve bickered, it’s been the same game —
“Who has it harder? Who is more lame?”
If you ask for my two cents, and some further loose change,
Gen X and millennials? I say we’re the same.
We’ve both faced vices at low-paying vocations.
We’ve both been young with financial limitations
Before you question the validity of our vexations,
Do you know what we’re facing in our education?
You see: our life as a student is like running on glass shards,
Even with sharp minds, we all end up scarred.
With stricter GPA’s to stay up to par,
when it comes to school, we have it the most hard.
Like getting hit in the shin with a grey-tint, razor scooter,
There’s pain in a student paying rent in Vancouver.
Like the price of Bey and Jay renting out the Louvre,
SFU’s room and board? An expensive manoeuvre!
You say we complain, but here’s an inquisition:
When you were our age, how much was tuition?
I’m trying to explain, I sure hope you’ll listen —
With thousands of more dollars, our tuition is different.
I’m not trying to quarrel, but here’s a question to instill:
Do you know the price to have our gas tanks filled?
To park one day at school costs two Netflix bills!
$25? Can SFU chill?!
You’re probably thinking: it’s still not as bad as it seems.
OK, let’s look beyond the student-cost means.
To get a good job, you needed one degree —
We need two or three, and a cure to a disease.
Y’all had it rough too, we do understand,
Life as a student doesn’t always go to plan.
Our only difference is time — but no matter the scheme, nor how grand,
Your failures didn’t end up on Instagram.
I know that you think all we do is complain,
That we Snapchat dinners with cheap-bought champagne.
This may call for eye-rolls, but hear when I say —
Gen. X and Millennials: we both wanted the same.
