In the age of soaring college tuition costs and the emphasizing of fiscal responsibility, it's nearly impossible to walk on a college campus of any size without hearing the phrase "Broke College Student." This phrase is often used by a student when they are doing something to save money such as eating ramen noodles, sticking to just water and a sandwich at a restaurant, or buying the cheapest beer for the weekend turn up. It's no question that college tuition puts a hole in the wallet of you and/or your family, and saving money is a very important thing. However, I've always been annoyed by people who say the words "Broke College Student." Before I go into the details, let me give some background information on myself.

I'm a 21-year-old white male from a middle class family. I attend a relatively low priced school in an urban setting as a transfer student from an even lower priced school in the suburbs. I'm currently in between jobs, looking for a position as a student worker at my current school. I take advantage of scholarships and grants to help pay my tuition. My family is able to support the costs up front, but I have every intention of working to pay it off over the next few years. I do not own a car, and have never had access to a car while away at school. While at home, I share a basic eight-year-old Honda with my mom. My family has not taken a vacation since 2011, although a friend and I did go on a cross country train trip last year that totaled under $1,000, as we stayed with various relatives of his all around the country. Our house is in need of repairs and several of our appliances need to be replaced. My family and I are certainly not rich, but I have never, EVER, referred to myself as a "Broke College Student."

I don't consider myself to be because my family and I are in a position where I can afford to go to school and get a degree. Simply put, that's enough for me to be happy. However, there are some people out there that misuse this label quite frequently for whatever reason. Even though the school I transferred from was low cost, there was a large population of students from wealthy families due to the school's location in a wealthy restaurant town. As a result, ownership of brand new cars paid for by parents, tropical vacations twice a year, numerous ski trips, and journeys to concerts were commonplace among my friend group. They had money for parking permits, fraternities and sororities, and all the study abroad options in Europe I could only dream of. Many of these people did not have jobs. As much as I love my friends, the extreme emphasis on material culture was a huge reason why I transferred to the much more economically diverse environment of the city. You can probably guess where I'm going with this, but people like that SHOULD NOT be referring to themselves as "Broke College Students." Yet....they do. Whenever they need to buy necessities, turn down an offer to order pizza, or don't want to pay a small fee. I frequently hear something along the lines of "Sorry, but we're broke college students." It's always funny to me when someone takes out ramen or a frozen meal and says "Gotta do what I can because I'm a broke college student and I'm riding the struggle bus." Enough already. To me, it's kind of confusing that someone brought up with a silver spoon would have that reaction to a simple purchase or simple aspect of saving money.

I'm happy to be middle class, and I'm extremely lucky to not have to call myself a "Broke College Student." I feel that I have everything I need, and I've always been respectful towards people who have more, as well as less than my family and I do. It's what I've been taught from an early age. Now in the city, I don't really hear this expression used as much as I used to around my peers, but I still wanted to get this off my chest. My message to everyone reading this, and especially those who are more financially secure than me, is that unless you literally are struggling to afford college, working hard at a job to pay your tuition, and heavily reliant on financial aid, then don't call yourself a "Broke College Student." You're not, and it's extremely disrespectful to people who are. Why not just say that you're trying to save money instead?