Piggy Bank

Piggy Bank

Conner Hutchings

The object that I chose for the presentation and exhibit was a ceramic piggy bank with the Indiana University symbol inscribed upon its sides. Though this object has been with me for quite a long period of time in and of itself, I was able to still find a great amount of relevance to the symbolism which it represents to IUSB. Money is one of the primary things which many people in the United States think of when they see a piggy bank, and of course money was what I was thinking of when I chose the object in question. However I was not merely thinking of the money that I normally put inside of it but money in many other contexts.

For many of us, throughout our youth, our parents or other close relatives, and friends have perpetually told us that we need to go to college in order to find a good job when we are adults ourselves. It is unsurprising when we realize that when we begin thinking of what university we wish to attend and which field we wish to study in, the idea of how lucrative the field is and how much money we can make by getting a degree in that particular field of study, and the university’s proficiency helping us obtain that degree as well as find the well-paying jobs that are associated with having a university degree. Yet we also find ourselves thinking on the cost benefits of one university over another. Universities such as Harvard and Yale for instance have exemplary records as the best universities to go to for many different fields, yet very few of us could even dream of paying our ways through going to these universities.

However, this focus on getting a good education for the sake of better future financial gains and better overall stability has of course had the effect of turning education in and of itself into a valuable commodity. This is yet another area in which money and the image of the piggy bank come to prevalence. Due to the increasing cultural value that is placed upon the now commoditized system of education has, like many other objects that grow in demand, has become far more expensive than it once was. Just through speaking to other people who graduated from universities decades before me I have been staggered by how much cheaper a college or university level of education had once been, even after one considers random things such as inflation. With this in mind one finds themselves struck by just how much it costs in order to raise oneself up onto another social tier.

The piggy bank in and of itself is a highly symbolic object that represents both the numerous costs that are incurred by students going to a university, but it also works as a symbol of the potential for great financial and social gains that we are now capable of receiving since we have ‘bought’ this commodity.