The Masala Post

Harris, Malcolm. Kids These Days, Human Capital and The Making of Millennials. November 7th, 2017.
I will use Chapter 2 of Kids These Days as a springboard for my paper, as it will provide a good background for the issue at hand as Chapter 2 delves into the state of student debt and describes the seemingly uselessness students may feel as the effort they take to pay back their loans only ends up being used as a profit for colleges, organizations, and other government sources. I will also look into Chapter 6 which delves into mental health for possible information as I will be tackling the mental health of students in college and how its affected by their student debt.

Walsemann, Katrina M., Gilbert C. Gee, and Danielle Gentile. “Sick of our loans: Student borrowing and the mental health of young adults in the United States.” Social Science & Medicine 124 (2015): 85-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.027
I think this source will be the most important source as it illustrates a connection between student debt and mental health, but it also provides a lot of scientific data and a bit of discussion that will prove useful as I write my paper. Once again, the source delves into the relationship of student debt and mental health, but it also delves into a possible connection with parent wealth affecting the relationship between these two concepts. I will use this source to be a source of exposition for the problem I want to talk about, as I think it may accurately describe the issue in some way or fashion.
The keyterms used in this article are mostly related to scientific terms, with the words being “socioeconomic factor” or “linear regression.” My focus will once again be on the general discussion aspect of the study.

Nissen, Sylvia, Bronwyn Hayward, and Ruth McManus. “Student Debt and Wellbeing: A Research Agenda.” Kōtuitui 14.2 (2019): 245-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1614635
This source I found could be used as a comparative source as I can use it to help visualize the experiences that students are going through in other countries while the cope with student debt. I will primarily use the section “Student debt and wellbeing: insights from New Zealand students” in order to get a proper perspective of how New Zealand students handle their debt. The importance of this source would be the acknowledgement that student debt can be a global problem as it isn’t just in the United States. I think the benefit of the perspectives would be an important piece of evidence as it’ll provide evidence from other countries of how other students feel about their student debt. The fact it’s a research agenda is also an important detail, as I can trace back other articles that may cite this as their source and get further research from other sources that tie back to this agenda. The keyterms of this article are: “Student loan debt, ” “well being,” and “higher education.”

White, Erica. “Student Loan Debt is Creating a Physical and Mental Health Crisis for Millions of Americans” The Network for Public Health Law, www.networkforphl.org/news-insights/student-loan-debt-is-creating-a-physical-and-mental-health-crisis-for-millions-of-americans/. Accessed November 15th, 2022.
This article may provide a more present example of how student loan debt is affecting the population of college students and other adults today.

Tran, A. G. T. T., Mintert, J. S., Llamas, J. D., & Lam, C. K. (2018). At what costs? student loan debt, debt stress, and racially/ethnically diverse college students’ perceived health. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(4), 459-469. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000207
This source may provide further context of how different ethnic groups of students handle their student debt loans and the stress of them, and I could use it for research to talk about how people view their debt differently.

Henager, R., Anong, S.T., Serido, J. et al. Does Financial Satisfaction Vary Depending on the Funding Strategy Used to Pay for College?. J Fam Econ Iss 42, 429–448 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-021-09755-7
Lastly, one more article that I could possibly use to talk about how students take up jobs to pay off their debts, and if that adds to their financial stress or not.

Edit (12/04/22):
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan Explained.” Federeal Student Aid, 2022, studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement. Accessed December 4th, 2022.
An article from the Federeal Student Aid website that explains the plan that President Biden has for student loan forgiveness. This can be a source for a possible solution near the conclusion of the essay.

Edit (12/04/22):
Jagoo, Krystal. “How Biden’s Student Debt Forgiveness Plan May Impact Mental Health” verywellmind, September 15th, 2022, www.verywellmind.com/how-bidens-student-debt-forgiveness-plan-may-impact-mental-health-6503917. Accessed December 4th, 2022. Another article to use to illustrate the effect of how student debt being forgiven may impact mental health of college students.

Jinay Patel – Final RP Proposal

I would say the problem I’m tackling has changed in the focus I’m taking as the focus on the educational system for Gen Z has turned into the effects of student debt on Gen Z college students. The reason it has changed to the effects of student debt is because the sources I found helped me narrow down the focus of my essay to the idea of the relationship between student debt and mental health. It was further narrowed down to Gen Z, as we did a writing exercise in class last Thursday and the term Gen Z narrows it down as I will be focusing on the present situation of college students today. The reason I am focusing on the present is because I want to delve into how college students nowadays feel about their debt and how we can try to fix the issue in some way. I would still need to do some research into the debate of student debt and mental health, as it could be a topic that is widely debated or not debated at all. The question I’d be tackling would be the one I proposed being if student debt does affect students in terms of their mental health with factors, one such example being added stress from fulfilling a job to earn money to pay of their student loans. There would be much debate in terms of student debt forgiveness, as one of the examples I may use will involve the recent action from President Biden to forgive student debt.

As for my sources, they would be laid out as I write the essay. They will most likely be used a background, for support for my argument, and as a topic of discussion for the theory they propose. I will most likely use the sources involving New Zealand and the United States to provide a perspective of how other countries differ from ours with student debt and how they feel about student debt as it can provide an insight into the effects on their mental health. I will most likely have to research more into Harris’ book and Chapter 6 specifically as it pertains to the mental health of the general people of Gen Z. I will have to look for another source that involves some possible solutions of the student debt problem and how students can have a better routine to help their mental health during college. Some of these solutions will use recent example, like Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan as stated earlier in this proposal. The essay will follow an outline of introducing the problem, discussing it with the sources involving New Zealand and the state of early adults in the United States, comparing the two countries in terms of their debt situation, addressing the discussion of students from each country, and then possibly finding a solution or some way to improve the situation in the conclusion. Once more, I will have to do more indepth research, but I have further insight into what my essay will go into.

General working bibliography for my Research Paper Assignment

Walsemann, Katrina M., Gilbert C. Gee, and Danielle Gentile. “Sick of our loans: Student borrowing and the mental health of young adults in the United States.” Social Science & Medicine 124 (2015): 85-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.027

This source delves into the effect of how student loans affects psychological functioning, in other words, how student debts can affect early adult mental health. They also look into how parent wealth may affect the relationship between these two factors, and I think I could use this source more in-depth for my research paper once I’ve read through it more. I gathered the information from the abstract and a bit of the background of the article. I will focus on the discussion part of the article. The keyterms they seem to use in this article pertain to sociological or scientific terms like “socioeconomic factor” or “linear regression.”

Nissen, Sylvia, Bronwyn Hayward, and Ruth McManus. “Student Debt and Wellbeing: A Research Agenda.” Kōtuitui 14.2 (2019): 245-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1614635

This is another source I will use for my essay, as it delves into student debt in another country being New Zealand. I could use this comparatively or as an example to show that student debt isn’t just a issue that students in the United States are dealing with, but all over the world where there are educational institutions. I will focus primarily on the section of “Student debt and wellbeing: insights from New Zealand students” to get a perspective of how New Zealand students cope with their debt. This article also lists the key words it will use being: Student loan debt, wellbeing, and higher education. I think the added benefit of the perspectives of the students would be that it gives a real picture of how students in other countries deal with this kind of debt. Once again, I will get more information as I look more into this source and some others I find while researching for my paper.

White, Erica. “Student Loan Debt is Creating a Physical and Mental Health Crisis for Millions of Americans” The Network for Public Health Law, www.networkforphl.org/news-insights/student-loan-debt-is-creating-a-physical-and-mental-health-crisis-for-millions-of-americans/. Accessed November 15th, 2022.
(Another possible website source for the paper I found that seems to pertain to my claim.)

The pursuit of education is an arduous journey to be on..

The focus of my essay will be on the educational system of Gen Z, and how it affects overall generational productivity in terms of college students. I’m still trying to narrow it down, but I would like to investigate the psychological process of how college students get through college and try their best to succeed. Along with that, I want to make a claim based on the quote from the intro of Malcolm Harris’ novel Kids These Days, being: “And if college means better jobs, and more kids going into college, why are wages down?” I could look into the model of learning that is used and see the flaws in it and analyze how it works for each generation, to provide a better background for the current issue.

            As for my sources, I still have to research and look for sources that pertain to the focus of the educational system and its effects on Gen Z and other generations. I would use a reliable source that talks about the educational system and structure so far and what has been working for my Background source. I would use the first part of Chapter 2 or certain parts of Chapter 2 of Kids These Days to set up the issue. I would go into detail about the phenomenon of how students act during their years at college. For my Theory source, I would look into what others have to say about the educational system we have right now and possible solutions they offer to address this issue. The Exhibit example would probably use a source that talks about data or statistics about the psychological effects and anxiety first-year students may feel during their first year of college, for a good example. My Argument source would be the source that I would debate, like the people who say the system is fine as it is and dispute my claim by saying that there are a lot of factors that go into an already working system, so changing it would be hard to adapt to (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). I would also look into the value of going through college and how much that matters depending on a pre-existing mindset or motive of the student. I could use the example of COVID-19 and the sudden shift of online classes and apply that to how colleges adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that requires some more research there. My Motive would be to emphasize how we could improve certain aspects of the education system and offer some support for college students who are just getting used to college, or even students who are very close to graduating college. This section could be used to list possible resources and tips that students could use to do better with their academic careers.

            This is still a general run-down of what I’ll be focusing on, I still need to narrow down the proper terminology of my claim, but I know I’m very interested in the phenomenon of the thought process that delves into the college cycle of education and getting a job in the long run. I will possibly update this draft once I have read into the chapter and done more research on the topic at hand.

The generational thinking of the early stages of our lives

The prompt I want to try to work on is the general idea or process of thinking Gen Z and other generations have as they go about their academic career. I will most likely use Kids These Days by Malcolm Harris, and the 1st and 2nd chapters as a general springboard to start thinking about my prompt. I will still have to brainstorm my general prompt and do my research, but in general I want to know more about the sociology of parents and students in the part of their lives as they transition from teen to adult. I could also compare how generations dealt with the struggle of the education system in their times, and I want to investigate the social aspects of Generation Z and compare it to the previous generations. I picked the first two chapters of the book because I think those two chapters highlight an issue I’d be willing to know more about. These two chapters seem to cover homework and the general experience of growing up with possible helicopter parents and such. I’d still have to brainstorm and properly read the chapters, but as a whole, I want to investigate the sociological process of adolescent teens as they transition to being adults and college students, and how the education system may or may not be really difficult on our generation. Something to do with education and generational thinking as well.

A story made from the conversation I had with my dad about when he first came to America.

The year was 1999, the world was undergoing a big change as it would roll into the 2000s. My dad would also undergo a change in his world when he was invited over to the US by my grandpa, who was in turn invited over by his sister (my aunt). He would step into a new land of opportunities as most other immigrants to the US would and soon take up a job to stay stable. His first job would be in Florida for 2 months, doing some general maintanence (with “computer circuits” as he says) in a motel, and he ended up bouncing between multiple jobs during his time in the states. He would end up in Oklahoma doing a motel job in Okmulgee, living with his sister as he did not have a home of his own. Each of these jobs would also span over two or three months as he went along. His father and his sisters would be prominent in this stage of his life, as most of the jobs he was ensured were given by his father and another sister of his. From there, he went to Tulsa for a job in maintenance at a lock factory, and by this point, he would have amassed much of the technical skill with tools and machines he has today. Later, he found a job in California for a whopping 3 years! He worked in a Days Inn in Santa Anna during that time. From all these jobs to the various places he went, he took a liking to the US and he decided he wanted to stick around here and live life here. Soon after in 2003, my aunt found him an offer of a motel, which he humbly accepted and paid for with some help from a friend of his. This would lead him to manage a motel in McAlester and find a place to have his family settle down. My mom arrived soon after with me, which was a short time after I was born in India, and we ended up settling down in the motel. We still manage that very motel to this day.

I can tell that over the years, family was an important part of his life. He also stressed the value in getting a good job, since motel management is a very tedious and tiring job. The prospect of a better education was important enough that he wants me to do my best in college and make sure I get a good job (that should pay a lot of money, he emphasizes). I realize he has done a lot of work in the past and I can say I have a new perspective of the effort he has put in and the places he has gone. I can also reflect in the struggle he had of finding his footing in the US, as I am trying my best to find my footing in college in a new environment of my own. He is certainly a person who prefers being active and going to places and making sure his children (me and my sis) see more of the world out there. Although he can be rough at times, I can understand where he comes from and I still love for him regardless of how I feel about him at times. I can appreciate the time and effort he has put into bringing my family here and the support he provides with his skills and experience. He regularly boasts about his driving skills, something along the lines of “I have four eyes on the road, you know.” I am happy he tells me some of his stories of how he dealt with things as it feels like he is passing things down to me and ensuring that I do well in the long run. After all, it is one generation of the family passing the torch to another, and we still have to look out for one another. I can say, I am fortunate to have him in my life, and I hope he continues to support me in my future endeavors whatever they may be.

Battle Royale is a very interesting movie, as it delves into the concept of how people will act in a desperate situation where they have to survive by killing off other people. The idea that the government mandates this Battle Royal Act to kill off unruly children who don’t respect adults is an extreme way to handle the issue. Although, it seems like they devolved to that as the hope and trust for the youth in their generation has dwindled to low standards. Despite this however, there is still hope in the battlefield of the island they’re put in. There is a moment between the main character Shuya and the female main character Noriko have an exchange about their pasts. Noriko can’t really trust any of their classmates on the island as several of the girls bullied her which prompts Shuya to make the remark if she trusts him. She does reply that she trusts him and refers to him as “Shuya” which is only a name that his late friend Nobu calls him by. This cuts to the flashback of Shuya and Nobu in their room, talking about their lives and what they’re looking forward to. A quote that sticks out from their exchange about how their life is going is how Nobu mentions “it’s nice to have someone waiting for you.” The general outcome of the scene is a promise from Shuya to protect Noriko like Nobu would have wanted and that Noriko can trust Shuya (The scene goes from 25:58 – 28:47, of the Director’s Cut). This scene is interesting as the flashback is only included in the special Director’s Cut of the movie, and I think the flashbacks add a bit more context and emotional depth to the characters of the movie. Despite the dread that they’re feeling, there’s still hope, and a goal to survive the battle royale. I think the general idea that the youth try to survive this game is an example of how the youth today try their best to survive the world out there. Andrea Arai makes a good argument about the film in her article about it by stating that “the broader attraction of this film has rather to do with the suggestion of resistance to more insidious forms of indirect violences perpetuated upon individuals, and the young, as the particular object of programs to raise national output and manage the population, whether in moments of high growth or recession” (Arai 376). This pertains to the idea that some of the reception of the movie could have come from the idea of the resistance the characters had against going through with the game. Some characters ended up working together to try to find a way off the island, like students Mimura and Sugimura who try to hack into the collars the participants are wearing. The transfer student Kawada also finds a reason to keep going in the game, as a survivor from the last game and internally trying to figure out why his girlfriend died smiling. Most of our main characters try to hold onto hope to escape from this game, despite the situation they’re in and the helplessness they feel. I believe Battle Royale has a underlying message of holding onto hope past whatever is thrown at you, at least with the Director’s Cut. That message can be found beyond all the violence that occurs in the movie with how the ending leaves off with Kawada finally understanding why his girlfriend smiled as he passes, and the two main characters trying their best to live on hopefully despite being wanted by the government. Battle Royale is certainly a film that has a lot to unpack in terms of the themes and meanings, but that’s what I’ve personally gauged from my viewing of the movie.

Arai, Andrea G. “Killing Kids: Recession and Survival in Twenty-First-Century Japan.” Postcolonial Studies, vol. 6, no. 3, Nov. 2003, pp. 367–79. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/1368879032000162211.