Occupy Brock

I decided to go to occupy Brock because I had head of occupy Wall Street and occupy Young street in one of my other OOCLOs. I wanted to know what they were fighting for and what it would be like to participate in an occupy movement. I thought it would be kind of like a strike where people are holding signs and making a ruckus. Therefore, I woke up early on Wednesday to go to the bottom of the tower and see what it was like. I got off bus 122 from the Penn Centre, walked towards the bottom of the tower, and saw signs posted on the windows. I also saw some people standing around talking. I walked into the room and saw security guards against the wall and a group of people standing listening to someone speak. As the person spoke I gathered the sheets of paper that people were handing out explaining what occupy Brock was. I then listened to the speaker talk about what they were trying to accomplish and what goals they had. Then another man spoke afterwards about a trip he took with the school one summer and the horrible things he saw there. Women were treated horribly and did not get the care they needed even when they were in labour. The students could not do much as they were there for the experience and to help people but I doubt many of them could properly deliver a baby. He talked about the horrible groups there that were said to help but in fact made things worse for the villagers. As the man talked more about his experience I looked more at the signs and what they said, each sign was clearly written by a different student reading: The grocery doesn`t cost as much as food here, F*** tuition fees, Lower our tuition, or anything along those lines. You could tell that students were getting sick of paying so much. However, they talked about lowering fees but raising the pay for TAs and professors. That does not make much sense to me because to give them higher pay the school would need more money.

From the sheets of paper I got I read more about what occupy Brock stood for and what it meant to take part in it. I saw that the government promised to drop our tuition fees by 30% and I do know that there is a tuition rebate that students can apply for. I also saw how much government support for tuition fees have dropped since 1990 and how high our fees are compared to other provinces. I do believe that it is harder to get education because the fees are so high and I understand why so many students need to rely on OSAP. If my parents were not paying for school then when I finished I would leave school with almost 50,000 dollars in debt. That is insane! It is not right that students have to pay this much, especially now when it is so hard to find a job and more students have to drop out because they cannot afford it. Most jobs want a diploma beyond they high school level but the government is making that as hard as they can. I believe that instead of our school wasting money to get everyone a mac they should focus on lowering fees and making life more cheap for students instead of making it harder. I should not be spending $500 every semester on book even when they are used.

I have learned what occupy Brock stands for and that they want to lower tuition fees so that students do not have to struggle to pay for school. This learning matters because I got to know more about what our school is doing and what they are spending their money on. The millions of dollars that Brock has spent to make fancy building for students, when it does not seem that we need them. Why do we need new buildings if Brock is lowering the number of professors that teach at Brock. Soon each professor will be able to have their own lecture hall all to themselves. In light of this learning, I got to see the problems with our school and its spending habits and what needs to be changed so that our students can be happy. Someone I know goes to Sheridan college and he pays $3,500 a semester and that is books and programs included. Why are our fees so much higher, especially when we get the same thing at the end, a diploma. I will stand being occupy Brock because they are fighting for what they students want and what they need to continue through their time at Brock.