I woke up this morning with my heart racing and sweat beading down my forehead because I had a nightmare. In my nightmare, the monster was a $20,000 loan I would have to scrape together between my award date and late August in order to afford my $60,000 tuition, the abyss I fell into was that of financial and academic uncertainty; one in which my GPA, involvement, and other accomplishments meant nothing, and the death I witnessed was that of my dream of walking across a stage in May 2019 and receiving a degree. Even as I sit here typing these figures, it baffles me that my schooling costs more money per year than I can conceptualize.

Ironically, you could argue that the financial aid I receive is pretty substantial. In previous years, I have had 80-90% of my aid needs met; however, when you go to an institution that costs as much as mine does, that leaves anywhere between $12,000 and $6,000 to be recovered through loans. Going into my junior year, I have already amassed over $20,000 in loans, which is arguably a small number comparatively. There are many students across the United States that have amassed more, as the average Class of 2016 graduate had $37,172 in student loan debt.

While that statistic 'a-loan' can be astounding, the most recent reports indicate that total U.S. student loan debt is a figure of $1.44 trillion unevenly distributed between 44.2 million Americans with 40 percent of it being used to finance graduate and professional degrees; medicine and health came out as being the most expensive degrees, amassing a whopping total average of $171,772 in undergraduate and graduate debt. Although it is easy to see student loan debt as a thing to enjoy the spoils of in the present and to fear in the future, the future catches up quickly, as borrowers aged 20 to 30 have been reported as having average monthly student loan payments of $351 and a median monthly student loan payment of $203. Those figures mimic the cost of a brand new car spread over a much longer time period. Compounded with the cost of rent, insurance, and other necessities, loan payments quickly become an un-affordable burden for graduates of all professions-- and that is ignoring the current job market and state of the economy.

Many people combat the foreboding nature of these statistics with talk of the Free Money Saviors: grants and scholarships. However, they realistically do little to help the majority of students and can even hurt in some cases. As of 2012, it was established that graduates who received Pell Grants were likely to borrow more, as 88 percent of graduates that received Pell Grants borrowed $4,750 more than 55 percent of graduates that did not receive a Pell Grant. While scholarships can be useful, the awards are generally very small and can only be realized after jumping through a number of hoops just to apply. Between the strenuous criteria for each individual scholarship - recommendations, transcripts, and other necessities- the amount of time it takes to apply can become counterproductive when one must be awarded 10 different scholarships in order to avoid taking out loans. When also taking into account the number of scholarships one must apply for in order to win 10 awards, the prospect of applying can become less attractive than taking out loans.

While we are all likely to fall victim to the American student debt epidemic - unless we're rich enough to be unbothered - one of the ways to help your neighborhood starving college student is to actually donate and give to your/your student's dear alma mater. Although endowments are important, they are largely embedded within policies and investments that make it very difficult for students to directly benefit from those large amounts of money. Many non-profit schools call alumni for fund-raising year-round which is put into funds that can be used to fund scholarships and grants through the school and act as the sunlight shining down between the storm clouds of student finances.

Therefore, while it is understandable that no one likes to pick up their phone to be asked for money by a stranger, please understand that donations even as small as $5 can be useful and make a large impact on the futures of students: from allowing people who would otherwise not be able to attend the ability to finish their degree, to mitigating the effects of loans to supporting the creation and perpetuation of the same great college experience for others, philanthropic giving can greatly impact the lives of students like myself. And who knows? Maybe it'll even save us from a nightmare or two.