I think that my best work has been on education and free software. That work is where I am most interested in to write on at this point because I myself am a student who faces an unpredictable future and wants a future that isn't controlled by intellectual property. Being able to talk about problems that plagues the country is a special thing. Living in a place where I am immersed in culture and the future allows me to embrace both. I can see what technology can do for students, and what needs to be done for technology to be attainable by students from all backgrounds. Being able to point out that this country has a problem with student debt and with sharing knowledge and technology lets me add my voice to the countless others that are already fighting the same fights. Adding your voice to the fights already being fought is the only way that the fights will keep going. And the fights that I contribute to are important for the future of students, not just in this country but across the globe.
Working in the niche of the internet that has to do with education is exciting. The internet is a massive repository of information. Weeding through what is good information and what is bad allows me to add my voice into a fight that continue until "the elite" realize that knowledge shoudl be freely shared, and not come at a cost. There are millions of students in this country, but there are 313 million "students" in every corner of the country. Everyone is a student until the day they die. They are absorbing information and learning new skills almost every day becuase that is a reuqirement of life. But to learn, people need to have access to certain tools. The tools that the 1% have far outweigh those of the 99% for the sole reason that the 1% have the ability to acquire those tools. Not everyone can go to Ivy league schools because someone in their family donates money every year or their family is buddy buddy with an administrator.
Working to add a voice to the fight against the outstanding costs of education and the perils that are associatted with it puts me in my element. It's my element because I am a student, and I struggle with being able to get an education for the reason that I will one day have to pay back my loans, but at the same time I will be starting a family and mainting a home. Getting an education will lock part of future in place because you have to find some way to pay for it, and that means working while in school and/or taking out loans and paying them back later during another important part of your life, having a fmaily.
Getting an education is beneficial, no matter what. But, when the cost associated becomes an extreme detriment to your life, is it really worth it? My work adds a voice to the fight, and no matter what anyone says, it is important.