People told me that I would find the support that I needed at Yale as a first-generation, low-income student. Advertisements from the University made it seem like I had little to worry about—that despite my lack of knowledge on how to succeed as an undergraduate, the school would help guide me. I had hopes then that Yale would help level the playing field for people like me. But that was a little more than three years ago. I’m now a rising senior, and I still feel lost at Yale. I still haven’t received any of the support that I was promised. And despite working two jobs to pay off the five thousand dollars the University forces me to pay as part of the Student Income Contribution—for the aid that Yale told me would help make my education “affordable”—I still don’t even know exactly what my school offers me to help cope with anxiety and depression.
CS, he/him/his, 2021
