I hate this for them. When I saw the early documentaries on them, I hoped that they would continue to get the love and support they seemed to have back then. They had dreams of becoming country singers and other things. How the system can just fuck them like this is horrible. I hope they get student debt forgiveness or something.
Yeah, but also it's not as easy an issue as everyone thinks. Consider that they are two people, two full fucking individuals who share a body. Treating them as a single person is a different but also shitty thing to do. Every option sucks and is a bit dehumanizing because society isn't set-up for this situation and institutions aren't legally flexible enough to adjust for them.
Consider that you work for the college and two applications arrive for them. Would you take it upon yourself to reach out and ask 'would you like us to pretend that you're one person for the next four years? We can just cram both of your names onto the degree at the end.' Likely not. And they did both complete coursework independently so it required twice the work from faculty. If identical twins both attended a college and took the exact same courses and received the same degree would it be that different? No... but we wouldn't consider it a failure of the college because of their ability to choose. In this situation the college allowed them the ability to choose different majors and topics but they decided it would be too difficult and instead made the choice to study the same thing. So far as money goes... yeah it sucks. But I imagine it's important that they are acknowledged as individuals because the alternative is.... well kinda horrific.
So yeah... it sucks and there is hardship for sure, and yes colleges engage in some real shitty practices, but I think everyone is viewing this particular issue in a black & white manner when it's kinda complex and difficult with every option making you feel just a little like there should be a better solution.
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u/-S-M-E-G-M-A-6-9 1d ago
I hate this for them. When I saw the early documentaries on them, I hoped that they would continue to get the love and support they seemed to have back then. They had dreams of becoming country singers and other things. How the system can just fuck them like this is horrible. I hope they get student debt forgiveness or something.