I don't know if it's just with my family, but the FAFSA is an absolute pain in the butt. Every. Single. Year. Without fail, my dad and I will sit at the computer and stress out over the strenuous application process, not to mention the millions of emails we get to confirm various sections of the application or to fill out extra documents. I mean, we do it, but not without complaining a lot. For someone like me who has the bulk of their finances for college on their shoulders, I understand the importance of "every penny counts" but sometimes I wonder how worth it that it is.

Don't get me wrong, if my parents could pay for a college education for myself and my two younger sisters, they would.

But the reality is, they can't. They help where they can and have helped more than they're comfortable with, but even that was a strain. According to the FAFSA, my parents can pay for around 75% of my education every year. That is... a lot of money, that we just don't have. There is no way my parents (with their wages and assuming I don't help out in this situation and ALSO don't receive any other financial help) are able to pay $15,000 plus every year on top of taking care of us. I am not the only person they help take care of and it doesn't make sense that the government assumes that the money your family makes is all going toward your education.

My family is too poor to pay for my education but too rich to receive any grants for my education.

I think it's kind of messed up to assume that every student depends on their parents for money. I'm lucky my parents have been willing (or sometimes not so willing) to help me out, but what about the students whose parents outright reject them or don't care enough to help them get an education? Or what about the students who have nothing to do with their parents anymore, but aren't married or to the age of 24? Or a veteran or orphan? Or have kids? According to FAFSA, you can only file as independent if you meet one of those criteria. I understand that it would be difficult to prove that you don't depend on your parents any longer, but it really does put those students in a difficult position and may keep them from receiving an education at all if they can't come up with the money to pay for college.

Hello FAFSA, I am one of three children.

I mentioned previously that I have two younger siblings and neither of them are in college yet. The thing is, the FAFSA only asks how many siblings you have that ARE in college. It doesn't take into account that they have needs outside of education. It doesn't consider that maybe your sibling is a part of marching band or travel softball or other activities that are important and take money. They also don't take into account the possibilities of a family member being sick and money needing to be put toward hospital bills. They don't take into account debts that may need to be paid off, say from a parent's tuition or from other loans. Speaking of the parents/guardians, did you know that the FAFSA doesn't consider a same-sex spouse of your parent unless they provide over half of your support? Or that they still consider a legal guardian who provides zero financial support as someone the student depends on, so they count their income just the same?

Having a roof over my head and food on the table is a huge blessing, but education is about as important. In a world where it's difficult to get a job without strict qualifications (or at least a degree), there's a lot holding students back from being able to achieve goals that should be simple. Getting a job is one thing, but getting a job that you earned because your employers see that you've been trained in the field and have received an education that has prepared you for the world is on a whole other level. It shouldn't be the biggest challenge of our lives to go to college. At least, the struggle should not be affording it. It's a shame that it costs so much money to move on in life to make more money. In a four year program at an average university, I could spend $100,000 to only be making $45,000 in a job for my degree in one year, and even that may not take care of every expense I have. Even that is before I have to pay back the money I get from FAFSA or other loans. It's daunting because I don't want the rest of my life to revolve around making payments on time. I don't want my primary worry when I'm in my forties or fifties to be about paying for my college education.

In conclusion, the FAFSA sucks. I do it, anyway, but I'm not happy about it. Maybe one day we'll be in a world where we don't have to bend over backward in order to have the basics of life. An education is worth so much, but at times it doesn't feel like I'm worthy enough to have one because I'm not rich.