Letter to the Editor - Vote for 6-Mill Levy for affordable education

To the Editor,

I write this letter in a small coffee shop just after touring an 800-year-old cathedral in Salamanca, Spain. As a study-abroad student almost 5,000 miles away from my home university of Montana State University, I reflect on my experience in higher education and the frightening reality that many students could face this fall.

Right now, higher education in Montana is at risk of seeing major funding cuts if the 6-Mill Levy ballot initiative doesn’t pass in November. This levy has been providing funding for higher education in Montana since 1948. This is not a new tax, but it has been changing lives for 70 years. Higher education has changed my life.

When I was growing up in Hettinger, North Dakota, I dreamed of exploring the world, of being surrounded by more than 1,200 people every day, of finding what really makes me tick. My dreams were big, but I never imagined that I would have the opportunities that I have gained since attending MSU. I am an industrial engineering major with bright hopes of using a technical approach to improve the efficiency of companies around the world. My education has helped me cultivate positions, internships travel opportunities, relationships, and endless knowledge. As the newly elected student body vice president, I also have the privilege of working closely alongside my peers and watching my fellow Bobcats learn, grow and give to the world through their experiences in university.

I believe in affordable education because money should never be an obstacle in a student pursuing their dreams just as I get to pursue mine. With that, I ask my fellow Montana voters to vote yes in favor of the 6-Mill Levy ballot initiative this November.

Lizzy Thompson

Montana State University student