Growing In a single parent household, college was the one thing I avoided talking about. Financially and emotionally it was a scary thing to talk about. When I was younger, I saw tv shows about college campus life. I always wondered how it feels to live at school. I always wanted to know how I would be living without seeing my mother and sister everyday. The questions I asked myself "Can I afford this?", "Is it worth it to move away?" or "Should I just live at home?" and help my mother.Then I realized, living at home and helping my mother out was more important than moving away to college.
During my high school years, I always thought of myself living on campus in college. I always wanted to learn about living on my own. The American expectations was for you to go to school and then after high school you move away to college. Knowing this, I thought this was not just an expectation from my mother, but everyone I known. But yet again I was really stuck on both of the ideas because my mother is from the Philippines and there it was very different. My mother wanted to raise me as american, but having no father figure in my life made it hard for me to go to school financially. Going to Umass Boston I thought was a perfect idea, since my mother works minutes away from the campus and it wasn't too far away from my house.
On the last week of April this year, I got a letter home from Umass Boston saying they will not give me my mass grant. The reason I will not get it because my efc was too high. My mass grant was my main source of financial aid to attend Umass Boston. Without my mass grant I would get not financial aid except for loans. Since Umass Boston didn't have dorms, I would have to get an apartment near campus. I found three roommates on the college facebook page, and in June one of my roommates dropped out of the college. Which this would cost me $1600 a month for the apartment with my other roommate. After I graduated high school, I made the decision to attend Anna Maria college as a commuter, while still helping my mother at home. Commuting to Anna Maria College, was something I thought was a great idea. This school gave me a lot of financial aid, which included a $19,000 merit scholarship, $8,000 in federal stafford loan and a $2000 work study. These circumstances, helped me be able to afford college and still work full time. I can escape the college life when I leave school and focus on my family. Living at home, was something I never thought I would do.
Commuting to college is what I choose over living on campus. Either way, I'm still getting my education and getting to experience a college life. I can still help my mother and not work about her safety if I moved away to a college campus. I would not have to experience a big change in my life and still was at the comforts of my own home. Even though living on campus was something I always wanted, helping my family was my number one priority.