By Sam Wallis, YPIE Executive Director
In response to 'We're on the edge of the precipice': How the pandemic could shatter college dreams, Politico, 4/12/20
As we enter another week of this marathon, one thing has become even more clear. Long after this quarantine has ended, after everyone is vaccinated, and after the economy has recovered, students like ours could be in one of two groups.
The first group will be a lost generation. This group will have lost months of learning, never to catch up. They will not have gone to college, losing their chance for upward mobility. In 50 years we will still be able to measure the impact of COVID on this group.
Or they could be part of a second group. This group will be made up of students who were caught right when the bottom was falling out, who continued to work hard, and who, through the help of others, were able to catch up, to continue with their educational dreams, and achieve upward mobility for them and their families.
Like the first group, this group will have been on the precipice, but this group will have been pulled back from it. This second group will see the blip on every data chart showing how things collapsed in 2020. But they will not be part of that - they will be the outliers.
With the help of YPIE, our students can make that happen. Together, we have a chance to alter “the long tail” this crisis will leave behind.
To our volunteers, supporters, and the entire YPIE community, we are deeply grateful. Your commitment to our YPIE students is more important now than ever.
Stay healthy and keep moving forward,
Sam