I ran my first half marathon with my mom. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I trained hard and sweat harder in order to cross that finish line, but, as if that wasn’t enough, paid 150 dollars just to participate in the race.
I’m just your typical college student working on a degree at a school with a yearly price tag that is probably bigger than my starting salary will be, but, of course, took on some of that expense anyway with student loans. I currently seem to owe more money than I’ve ever had to my name at any given time in my life, and seem to keep telling myself, “you can’t be in debt when you’re dead!” But it seems like almost everyday someone just wants more and more of this money that I don’t have. It seems like more and more frequently I have to fork over my weekend pay in order to gain a new life experience, while I put my student loans on the back burner and, as a result, increase further the amount of money I owe.
There are certain things that I am always willing to splurge on (and do) including: a new pair of running shoes and a race to go with them, a plane ticket, or a cup of coffee in exchange for a table at a coffee shop to do homework. I guess these could be considered luxuries. I could run barefoot and track my distance on my own. I could stay put or only travel nearby. I could do my homework at home. The problem with these things is that I wouldn’t feel as much a sense of community and camaraderie or cultural enrichment if I didn’t get to experience them every now and then. I don’t know exactly how to solve this problem, but I seem to be stuck in it, and I’m sure other college students might have similar growing pains.
But what if there was some solution? What if colleges saw that it doesn’t take $45,000 to educate someone for a year? What if the government didn’t raise student loan interest rates to 6.8% while the student (who couldn’t afford them to begin with) trying to pay them is still in college? What if people stopped asking for so much, and instead started seeing how they can help? That’s what would make the difference, but we need to speak up to initiate change. I don’t by any means think that this one post is going to change the world so that all of a sudden money is no longer an issue, but I do wish that other people could put themselves in my shoes (and the shoes of other college students) and remember what it felt like to be young, ambitious, and poor. My hope is that maybe, just maybe, a few people starting a conversation might make a little bit of a difference.
The Transition Artist 