Hillbilly Elegy

figured I’d do the same. I scored well
enough on the SAT to overcome my
earlier bad grades, and I knew that the
only two schools I had any interest in
attending—Ohio State and Miami
University—would both accept me. A
few months before I graduated, I had
(admittedly, with little thought) settled
on Ohio State. A large package arrived
in the mail, filled with financial aid
information from the university. There
was talk of Pell Grants, subsidized
loans, unsubsidized loans, scholarships,
and something called “work-study.” It
was all so exciting, if only Mamaw and I
could figure out what it meant. We
puzzled over the forms for hours before