Summer is over.
Your parents are gone.
Classes have started.
Your account is overdrawn.
You are once again a “broke college kid.”
It seems as we get older the idea and concept of money becomes more and more tangible.
No longer can we use Mommy and Daddy's money to go relieve the stress caused by our grueling 8-3 (give or take) high school weeks.
Now, instead, it is up to us to fend for ourselves in the real world, and what better place to learn this than in the battle-tested world of college?
When I used to think of college, I envisioned stacks on stacks on stacks of ramen, lots of dirty laundry, and little sleep because you were both broke and the classes gave so much homework.
With my first year done, I realize it is not so much stacks on stacks on stacks of ramen, but instead plates on plates on plates of the once loved but now sickening dining hall food. Ramen costs money, whereas your dining hall meal plan has been "paid" for with your obscene loan withdrawal.
As for clothes and sleep, a lot of that does not come from being lazy or too much work, granted for some it may still, but for those like me it is not that you are lazy, but instead you are so busy. You have picked up a few activities, but most importantly you have GOT A JOB. Whether on campus or off or both, you have learned that money out is not put back in your pocket by grandma and grandpa. You are on your own, and it's up to you to supplement your expenses.
So what do you do?
You can work during the summer and hope make to enough to last you throughout the year. But with part-time employers cutting hours to keep costs low good, luck with that.
You can call Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Cousin Sue, Uncle Joe, and every other relative in the book for money.
You could sell a kidney on the black market. I mean black market organ sales did save Dan Scott.
I can keep going, but no one answer holds the solution.
The days of the broke college kids are over.
No longer are we surviving on tap water and ramen like those before us. The "broke college kid" has now become a "financially responsible" college kid.
No longer can we splurge on things we do not really need. Just because someone turns down the opportunity to go out for dinner or go to the mall does not mean they do not have the money, but instead they usually are working a job or two and now understand that you cannot spend money like there is no tomorrow.
Live a little and go out every so often, but save more than you spend at this point.
College is not free, unless by some God-sent gift you are able to go for free, but for majority this is not the case. If anything college itself is a business. Yes, they provide you with an education, but will not hesitate to string you out until your debt is paid.
Now more than ever, it is important that we break this idea of being a broke college kid and instead turn to the idea of being a financially responsible one instead. For those of you entering your first year, be smart, have fun, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
