Sixty bucks here, one-fifty there, how about another forty-five over there, and don’t forget the added fees here, and late charges there.

You know what’s really getting to me this week? Money.

It’s the root of all evil. Everybody wants it, but most of us don’t have it.

If you think that nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

Everyone always uses the title “broke college kid”, and that’s because it’s true. They slowly start you out in High School by taking money here and there; school trips, ACT tests, and don’t even get me started on the cost of graduation or prom. Most kid’s parents pay for those things though. When you get to college it doesn’t get any better, in fact it gets much worse.

It’s always something. Someone always has their hand in my wallet needing money for something. I am even aggravated at the fact that I have a really nice wallet, but no money to put in it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my independence, and it’s worth every penny. I also love to work for what I have. There is a sense of pride in knowing that everything you own came from your own hard work. My parents raised me to work for what I needed, and then for what I want. I’m extremely grateful that they instilled that in me. I feel like I’m more grateful for the things I have because of that reason.

On the other hand, I am a complete ‘cheap-o’! Aside from my clearance shopping addiction, I hate to spend money. It pains me to give the bank the check for my car loan every month. I leave with a little tear in my eye. I know people say well that’s what you do when you’re grown, or ‘its part of growing up’. That’s all true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share our feelings about the subject. I don’t mean to grip, or complain, or to even seem like a cry baby. But it isn’t cheap being a college student living on your own.

I wish that people would understand what it is like to actually be a ‘broke college kid’. Everyone has these assumptions about college students, especially adults. They must not remember that they were in the same place at one time. Most adults think ‘Oh, that is part of growing up, and they will just have to figure it out.’ In reality this is the time we need help the most. I agree that some college students don’t deserve help. In fact I’ve heard several students say they only go to college because they get refund checks, and it is a way to make extra money. Those are the kind of people that will end up working dead end jobs the rest of their lives too. Anyways, other students work, go to school, and still try to maintain the fact that they are teenagers/young adults trying to have a good time before their ‘good years’ are over with. For students that are actually trying, can't we get a little help around here?!

Colleges are actually the worst about getting your money. No matter what you want to do in life, they want a check before you can do it. They want you to better your future, but it comes at a price. For instance the price of colleges itself, which granted most students in our area do receive financial aid it can still be overwhelming. You have to pay tuition, buy books, club membership fees, and heaven forbid you want to transfer then you will have to pay admission fees, mail stuff certified, placement holding fees, etc, etc.

But in the end that’s just the facts: You have to spend money to make money. Nothing comes free in this life. & my personal favorite:

 You know your poor when you have too much month at the end of your money.

Open Your Minds

Most of the college students I've met are all the same. There are two different styles to their learning habits: closed minded or conflict oriented. Either the student has no care in the world, or they take every opportunity to argue with other students and the instructor.

I won’t disguise my true character in this blog. My learning style is more of a ‘no care in the world perspective’, but that’s why I decided to write a blog of this nature, so we can all learn from each other and create new learning habits. My personal learning habits are usually to do the work and make a good grade. I’m not much for classroom discussions, or any type of classroom interaction for that matter. It wasn’t until last week that I realized sometimes it is good to have classroom discussion, so you can learn from your classmates. Sharing our ideas and concerns about issues helps us form better perspectives of our own.

Last week was the first week of the spring semester. I started a class that thrives on class discussion. Without our discussions the course wouldn’t make any sense. A lot of controversial topics come up in the class. Anything from race to abortion could be discussed during any given class. Normally during class discussion I just sit back and listen to what everyone else has to say, but not in this class. My motto has always been “I speak when I have something important to say.” In this class I feel like what I have to say is important. Everyone should feel like that. If you have something important to say, then you should share it.

Granted you shouldn’t comment on every subject. That is a characteristic of a conflict oriented person. They think they know everything so they consume class time with their poorly structured views on every subject. There is no way someone could know enough about every issue, and have a logical opinion on the situation, but for things that you are familiar with and have serious feelings about, you should share those feelings. It’s when we share that we enlighten other people and open up a gate way for them to form their own opinions.

The main thing we as students need to open our minds about during class discussion is the teacher’s point of view. Sometimes teachers aren’t really stating how they feel about the situation, a lot of times they are trying to provoke new thoughts in their students. For example, a sociology teacher isn’t going to give their true beliefs concerning religion, because sociology is the study of social behavior in society. It deals solely with facts. Most Christian beliefs are based on faith, not fact. So, if a sociology teacher tells you that God isn’t real because there are no true facts that say he is, he is correct. From a sociological stand point that statement is true. We have to look at discussions from that subject’s stance. All emotions aside, and only give real facts or real life experiences.

My point is that as college students we should be prepared to speak our minds when it is in our best interest and the best interest of other students to share our educational opinions.

Transition from High School to College: Ok, I made it. What now?

I have to admit, I wasn’t the biggest fan of High School. I felt like I was in a prison for 8 hours, and the other inmates were well acquainted friends that I only spoke to during those 8 hours. My High School was just a tiny building in rural Arkansas. We had a total of 32 people in our graduating class. I graduated with the salutatorian honor. I was shocked to find out about this considering the only thing I mastered in High School was solitaire on my phone, and the high score on Diner Dash. Sleeping might as well have been another subject in our school, as well as watching movies on the smart boards. As I’m sure you’ve pieced together our High School wasn’t the most challenging to say the least. I honestly felt like I was wasting my life away. Of course we all anticipated the day we graduated.  Everyone had some type of perception, more like a disillusion, of what college would be like. Either you wanted to go to a high end university and play basketball, join a sorority, or just go to crazy outrageous parties. Others had realistic expectations to go to a prestige University and be president of the physics club, or graduate with the highest honors. Boy were we wrong! I chose to attend a small community college not far from where I went to High School. After going to such a small school all my life I knew going to a large University would be overwhelming for me. Not to mention the thought of living in a dorm room with someone I just met.  So, I made plans to attend the community college for four years and then ease my way into a larger university. I expected to be attending college with other people who wanted a higher education; people who with real thoughts and opinions, opposed to High School were none of us cared what our curriculum instilled or who taught it to us. I wish that were the case. For the most part my college classmates were just the same as my High School classmates. I’ve only had two courses where students actually gave their opinions about real life issues.  Groups of immature students stand outside of the buildings saying demeaning things to girls, and if discussions do get heated in class people have been known to physically fight about them. I don’t blame these things on the college, I think it’s more of a cultural issue than anything, but we’ll touch more on that subject later. My point is that as High School students we conceive these notions that college is going to be our freedom point, and it’s all down hill from there. When in reality, although there are good aspects to college; like making your own schedule, it’s also full of new obstacles you have to face. I want this blog to show other students and even professors what it’s like to be on this side. Now that we’ve made it to the college side, what do we do now?