Q&A with the Author
Q: What is your final project?
A: My final project is a short story titled “The Sculpted Swan.” The story focuses on individual characters struggling after they graduate college from debt or their cost of living.
Q: Why did you choose to write a short story?
A: Although research papers need to be written, they are often unappealing to people outside of academic fields. By writing a short story, I was able to get my point across while also writing a story engaging for my friends and family. Just as a thesis statement makes an argument, my short story makes an argument about the financial burdens placed upon young adults in America.
Q: What argument are you making?
A: The cost of living is higher than it ever has been. People are graduating with thousands of dollars in debt. Although most degrees promise well-paying jobs, most graduates take about 18.5 years to pay their loans off. No one should have to be in debt that long for simply getting an education. College education has grown so expensive that many middle-class families can’t afford to send their children without taking out loans. The student loan system in America is broken.
Q: Why did you choose to write your short story in the third person?
A: The point of view I choose gave me the ability to shift from one character to the other, providing an unbiased opinion not filtered through a character’s own perspective. I was able to write a character’s inner monologue while also describing their exterior appearance and impressions.
Q: Why did you choose the setting of a high school reunion?
A: Everyone at the high school reunion is trying to appear successful when the reality can be quite different. Additionally, most people who go to their high school reunions do so to show off to former classmates. While each character who shows up to the high school reunion has their own issues, the reader can imagine the people who opted out of the reunion because they feared they would be viewed as a failure.
Q: What does the ice sculpture represent?
A: The ice sculpture symbolizes student loans. Student loans can seem at first like a great option for people to get the financial boost needed to go to college, just as the swan looks great. Swans may look elegant, but they are actually nasty birds. I personally was chased by a swan when I vacationed in Orlando. Yet, despite their aggression, swans are still seen as a vision of elegance and beauty just as many hail student loans as a wonderful way for people to afford a collegiate education. When Jonothan knocks the sculpture over, it shatters, just as the character’s faith in student loans has shattered.
Q: What would you like your readers to take away from your story?
A: The student loan system in America no longer works for the students. 70% of students need to take out loans during higher education (Feilds 2014). It is time that college became cheaper because people should not be punished for seeking an education
Q: How does your creative project relate to the topic of the class, “American Dreams and Nightmares?”
A: A key component of many in-class discussions over the semester was the definition of success. The American Dream is the dream that anyone can achieve success. But, in the world we live in today, what is a success? People, like my character Miranda, can graduate and get a great job but still struggle financially. Mary Joe and James may have jobs and love, but they will face financial struggles. Jonathon got out of school without loans, but now his parents are paying the price. Carmine has dedicated her life to a career in helping others, but her salary is not enough to pay for all her expenses. Katrina figured out what her passion was, dropped out of college, and is a manager at a nice Italian restaurant, but is required to pay back the money she borrowed. On the surface, each person is successful, but underneath they have money struggles. Without financial stability, is anyone really successful? As the cost of living goes up, will anyone but a select few people be able to achieve the American Dream and live a successful life?
Q: What sources did you use?
A: The theoretical text from class I used to inspire my project was “Intro to Financing the American Dream” by Lendol Cadler. Cadler’s text explains that in order to achieve the American Dream, people must take out loans to buy things like a house or education. The idea is that the loans will be easy to pay off over time. Student loans, in particular, are advertised as easy to pay back once the student has graduated and got a well-paying job. However, as my short story narrates, the expectations are far different from reality. I used the article “’I’m Drowning’: Those Hit Hardest By Student Loan Debt Never Finished College,” by Elissa Nadworny to inform my writing when I created the character, Katrina. The article is an interview with a college dropout who has to still pay back the student loans they took out. Furthermore, I used the article “70% of college students graduate with debt. How did we get here?” by Samantha Feilds to provide background information on the student loan debt crisis as well as statistics that informed my writing. Finally, I used the article “More Parents Use Retirement Accounts to Pay for College,” by Emily Brandon to base the character’s of Jonathon’s parents off of.
Contemporary American Dreams & Nightmares 