Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.

As a high school student in Union City, I have been fortunate enough to be able to take college classes. One of my first surprises was that a college textbook that was required for a course was more expensive than the registration fee for the course.

Having to purchase textbooks was new to me. Middle and high schools provided us with textbooks free of charge. Once our year ended we would return them, and then the same copies would be used for next year’s students. However, with college classes, I would buy the textbook, use it for 8 to 12 weeks, and then use it as a large paper weight. See

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