Yale Daily News

Remarkable story. Well done!

Great article. Well-written and well-sourced.

agreed - very interesting and relevant

Great article--one of the best I've seen in the YDN this year. I liked how you chose students from different backgrounds to get different angles on the situation and avoid perpetuating stereotypes about how only certain kinds of people are homeless.

Well done, Sibongile! Great article and kudos to these men who have faced life so bravely!

This is a brilliant article, moving, and inspiring. I can't wait to read more from you.

i'm impressed by the sourcing, not the writing. a little overdramatic in tone.

Blows my preconceptions of yalies out of the water

thank you for this. you can add me as a fourth anonymous yalie who scrambles every break to find a place to live. as much as i'd like to complain about feeling self-conscious around friends and suitemates born with silver spoons in their mouths, and talk about how much harder it is to turn my back on i-banking in favor of a career in non-profits, i really can't complain. i'm just grateful. the world isn't a level playing field, but the yale adcom definitely made it a lot more level for me.

GREAT ARTICLE!!!!

Finally something with some substance...

Ye, however, seems like an impostor - more of a rich kid who just didnt want to live at home while his father had a very sane and rational reaction for any parent whose child is openly having sex in their home (gay OR straight).

also " “They try to make me feel like I’m a family member, but it’s very clear to me that I’m not a family member. Even though they’re sweet and wonderful and would welcome me without question, I know it’s difficult for them to have me there. Sometimes there’s tension, like when I eat all of their white fish salad,” which he did over this past break." -- How horrible for you...

There was a period in my childhood when my family was homeless. It was terrifying. I was 8-9 years old at the time and my mother, brother, and I had to sleep on the floor of friends' and relatives' homes and apartments. We shuttled from one place to another and occasionally endured separation when we could not find someone to take all of us in.

I have never forgotten that year and the two years of poverty that followed. I look back on those years of fear and shame and then reflect that nine years later I was a freshman at Yale. That is what makes me a true believer in the American dream.

An Alum

Class of 1995

Yet another--happens all the time, not really a big deal.

My deans looked the other way when I just sorta...stayed (over winter break). Summers were spent "housesitting" for frats. Attics at Yale are great, too, as was the "secret space" behind the law school auditorium.

Oh yes, it can be done!

So... how do they pay for Yale?

Interesting article.

Although I don't want to sound offensive, #10 might be on to something. Ye is not an impostor, but his situation was definitely not as dire as the other students' situations.

Also, I think the overall tone of these students implies that if you weren't homeless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, which is a bad assumption. Most Yalies come from pretty humble backgrounds even if they weren't homeless. In fact, I think few Yalies who are in fact wealthy are overtly showy about their wealth or look down at others who don't have money. Yale's culture is open to diversity, and this article just shows yet another dimension of the diversity that makes this college such a great place.

To #13

Paying for Yale came first, and included private negotiations with the financial aid office, HUGE loans (some at govt rates, some at Yale's private rates, some at market rates, some at credit-card rates...). That leaves you so tapped out that paying for housing becomes impossible.

Believe me, *I* for one am not whining--Not. At. All. However, I *do* find it amusing when I tell my Yale tale o woe, that folks immediate response is "no you werent'! You were NOT homeless!"

So... what is the difference? Is it qualitative? Is it because I did not let my lodging dictate my life (i.e., I did not become a rummy on the corner)? Is it because I eventually made good, paid my debts, and entered respectable society? Is it because, while psychologically wearing, it presented more of an "adventure" than a "dead end"?

Is "homelessness" a physical condition, a state of mind, or an expression of future prospects? I myself wonder sometimes...

I remain ever grateful to Yale--and the faculty, staff, and students that helped me (or put up with me...).

Oh yah, the stories I could tell!

In reply to SM '98...thank GOD that admission to Yale is Merit based and need blind...and recent changes to expand the socio-economic base at the Ivy League elite, Yale will make sure anyone who is accepted on merit attends. A great blessing for so many students and potential leaders. Amazing article!! A view of Yale I think more high school kids need to see....so they can see they can do it too!! Great job!

To #13 - Yale is MORE than generous with financial aid.

to #7 - how is it overdramatic? as far as I'm concerned, the writing and the sourcing is fabulous. excellent work - first time I've read journalism as a work of art on YDN.

#18 - clearly you need to read more of the articles - and their comments