Collegiate Times

Of course, I am not paying for this wonderful college by myself; my mother helps me when she can and I work when I can, but no matter how much money I have, there is another expense that shows how vulnerable my life really is. I do not have a financial cushion like many of the other students here, and this doesn't scare me because it's not that I am in debt in any way, just like many other students here.

I do have to admit that my situation is not entirely horrible. I take advantage of Schiffert since I do not have health insurance, I ask for a student discount wherever I go, and I take full advantage of financial aid as it surely takes care of me.

I know that I am not the only student in the world in this situation, because that would be impossible. There are people struggling today just to make it to college while I have been here for two years and have not paid a cent, yet I am still poor. But the spectrum does not stop there, of course.

There are people like me who get through month-to-month, but an unexpected disaster would knock them to the ground for nearly a year.

There are the students who are privileged to an extent, even a small extent. It is a common stereotype that they drive nice cars and their college experience is funded from a private bank account. After two years, this is what I see in college.

I believe that everyone has their own reason to go to college -- mostly to make money after four or five years doing something they enjoy at least a little bit, or maybe going right back to school for an even higher education -- but what I have not figured out is why I am here. I see myself in neither category.

I do not know what life is going to bring me, although I am prepared to swing back violently at it the best I can. Do I care about internships, classes I do not want to attend, books I do not want to buy, parking in the Perry Street lot at 10 a.m., buses filled to the brim, people crowding walkways, seminars about careers in fields I have no interest?

After deliberating this I can only answer yes to all of the above because people here have made an impact on me. The English department here at Tech has most likely had the greatest impact of all. I can only thank my freshman English teacher for that because I know that I will always belong somewhere.

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