-i came back to school to finish my degree because i wasn’t going to be another single mom statistic, and living on student loans sounded a hell of a lot more bearable than trying to pay for a tiny apartment on what we consider “good money” from my retail job. i now take full time classes, carry a 4.0, and i have a job in the women’s center through work study at just above minimum wage.

-i thought about going to new york to occupy, but i can’t afford it. then i realized, that’s why i’m in the 99%.

-i have it better than some - we don’t have any serious health issues and my daughter is on her dad’s insurance. i, however, do not have insurance.

-i believe in the rebirth of our economy, and our society. 

-i feel helpless when so much of my daily life is wrapped up in participation in corporate greed: i need gas in my car, we need to eat, and we need shoes on our feet. we use computers and cell phones, and those companies are not exempt from the corporate bubble. however, i don’t think the answer is to boycott the companies. i think the answer is tax reform and the power of the people. we live in a world in which we take the blame for corporate crime because we are the faces of the company - the real problem is hard to trace, and we can’t leave because then we can’t feed our families.

-we are the lucky ones: i have a car (and was able to get a loan to buy it). my daughter is in preschool through a federal grant program. i am able to be invested in her education and her school and i love her teachers (who have had their jobs there for 10+ years). we eat well, thanks to food stamps and education when it comes to nutrition and we live near several wonderful grocery stores that provide “whole” foods and not processed garbage. we have a laptop and a camera. i know the privilege of being a middle class white female, but i also know the invisibility that comes with the same label.

-i make a “living” on borrowed money. we are the 99%.