It's easy to move down in class, but to move up in class, it's close to impossible.

Whatever class you're born into, most people stay in that class, you know.

And to move up, it's a challenge. It's a huge challenge.

This is opportunity costs from death, sex, and money.

There are wealthy people who call themselves up a middle class.

A series all about class, which we think about a lot, everything I wanted, I got, and need to talk about more.

I worked really hard, but I very much am poor.

I'm Anna Salle.

When Ramal Johnson emailed us, he was in his first semester of a PhD program at Howard University in D.C.

He's studying communications.

And he was working two retail jobs to afford rent in the Washington area, one at Best Buy and one at Express.

His days were long.

My alarm would go off at 4 a.m. and I would spend about 10 minutes thinking about how I got into this mess.

And then I would get up, shower, do all of that dress, and I would have to leave my apartment by 4.45 to get on the train.

I take the train to Arlington, Virginia, get to work at Best Buy.

Work usually from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Then I get to express, work there, get off at about 11 p.m. and then get back home about 12.30 a.m.

So now it's the next day and then sleep until 4 a.m. and then do it all over again.

What did you picture your life being like when you thought about what it would be like

to be a PhD student at Howard?

Um, not like this.

Ramal laughed a lot while we talked, but the email he'd written to us was more somber.

...