The Effects of Financial Insecurity on the Mental Health of College Students
College students are told that the 4 years they spend at a University will be huge in determining their future success, however they do not always have the funds to afford college itself. Financial difficulties, and worry over school debt can be detrimental to your mental health. We discuss it here!
By: Sydni Hatley
College is a weird time for many. You are away from home for the first time but are usually still financially dependent on your parents. You can make your own decisions and don’t have adult supervision governing your every move, but for most of that time are not even old enough to legally buy a drink.
And finally, you have the freedom to do what you want, but not the funds to do it. College students are told that the four years they spend at a University will be huge in determining their career path and success, however they do not always have the funds to afford college itself, let alone the many personal expenses that come with it.
According to sciencedaily.com, “experiencing financial difficulties and worrying about debt at university increases the risk of mental health conditions such as depression and alcohol dependency”. College students stress so much about how to pay for school because, let’s face it, college is expensive! Thousands of dollars and it isn’t getting cheaper. Not everyone can afford this and that is completely understandable.
Many families struggle to pay for their kids to go to school, and many kids share the financial stresses with their parents. This stress comes from the want to help out and not see their own parents struggling, but the reality is, it is hard for a college student to raise that kind of money mostly or entirely on their own. Attending college itself is expensive and it is basically impossible to be a full-time student while working a job that makes enough to pay for it. Financial insecurity is a constant stressor, so the fact that many students must find a way to pay for that and personal, day-to-day life expenses makes it easy to understand the connection to increased depression and alcohol dependency.
The need for money and financial stability is the main reason why so many college students become personal entrepreneurs while in school. Students start their own hair businesses, paper-writing businesses, lash tech businesses, makeup businesses, and anything that can help bring in some money. Students are forced to get creative for pocket-change, and sometimes are forced to do so whether it is by legal or even illegal means.
If the cost of obtaining an education were not so expensive and catered to the middle-upper and upper classes, students would not have to do so much to make the money for their education. College itself is already stressful enough with having to compete with your classmates and get grades good enough to get you a good job. This also does not include the need to be involved on and off campus as well, so a financial stressor on a college student’s back is just one more thing to cause their mental health to deteriorate.
To assist with relieving financial stress off of college student’s backs, institutions should consider either lowering the (unnecessary) costs affiliated with the institution, or at least offer more scholarship opportunities. They should also consider allocating more of the money that is donated to the institution to scholarships that will help make school more affordable. Education should not be expensive, it should really be free, but if America wants to charge its students, it should at least make attendance more accessible for all.
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Editorial: Is it Possible For You To Retain Your Racial Identity While Receiving A Formal Education?
As minorities, for us to take steps through doors to be in certain careers or institutions we have to change to fit a Eurocentric standard, especially with going through the regular K-12 school system. Is it possible for you to retain your racial identity while receiving a formal education? We discuss it here!
By: Lauryn Bass
Is it possible for you to retain your racial identity while receiving a formal education? The fact that this question has been posed as a discussion is quite humorous. As you go through the regular K-12 school system, you learn and grow with what you experience in and outside of the home and classroom. You are shaped by so many things, but this does not take away from who you are as a person.
Consider the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child." It is impossible for someone to be shaped into an efficient communicator without being exposed to the outside world of their community. Yet, you retain what makes you happy, what you understand to be true and morph into who you are supposed to be.
But let's go back to the question at hand: Can you be you, with outside forces at hand? Well to introduce myself, I am a black woman from Georgia attending Hampton University. Sure, that can be attached to a little bit of information about me--but not who I am. I am me by how I walk, talk, and carry myself. My beliefs, thoughts, interests, are all mine and can't be compared to anyone else.
Where my influence stems from can come from my parents, friends, religion, what I've perceived, or even innovated from what I've gained from my studies. People are not supposed to be one set thing. We are allowed to change our minds, make mistakes, and expand. So to believe that you may lose or gain any part of yourself by attending a secondary education system is quite absurd. In all honesty, it is based on insecurity.
I understand the argument that many around me know as "code-switching". This is when you change to fit into the atmosphere around you. As a minority, for us to even take a step to be in the doors with the big boys, we have to change to fit a Eurocentric standard. For example, lessening our use of slang, straightening our hair, cutting our locs, ridding ourselves of our accents, shielding our cultural prints, you name it. Anything to conform to our brethren and sistren who aren't exactly like us culturally. But that shouldn't matter. But it is the way of the world where white-privilege has to continually be pushed to the limit so that we can demand change and be who we are.
Currently, we had to pass the Crown Act of 2020 just so that we won't be judge by our physical but by the hard work we do and the content of our character in the workplace. This just shows how far we have come but also how behind we were in terms of equality. It is a sad truth, but much like the thought that you can't be who you are and also strive to be smarter and wiser just doesn't sit well in my spirit because it is just not true.
As we age, we definitely lose parts of us that were keeping us stagnant. We also cherish the memories that brought us to where we stand in the present. Education is just like that. I don't know about most but unless you have a photographic memory, you do not retain ALL that you are taught in college. You soak up as much as you can and use what is beneficial to you. You keep what you need.
As far as my culture, I keep what I need. There are things that are cultural that we can also grow from to be better. Traditions aren't always the best and you have the ability to create new ones. As you learn, you take back what helped you to your families and communities so that we can become better and better as time passes. We learn more about government, financial literacy, anything to progress and keep history from repeating.
Think of the doctors who tested gained more knowledge from testing and creating vaccines for smallpox. They are no less the person they were before and after totally eradicating the disease. They then shared their discovery with the world and made life a little less hard. I know that the biggest disagreement that Frank possibly had with Obama was his grammar. It is known for illiteracy to be a common cultural difference in the Black community but look at our history; are you surprised?
As you dive deeper into ebonics, you find that English is very complex. New words are created every day, much of our language comes from another--it is very telling about your roots how you speak. But whether or not your proficiency level is eloquent or full of idiosyncrasies, does not define who you are. At the end of the day, you're just communicating. The way you speak is a personal choice. You decide who you are and who you want to be.
In conclusion, the education you obtain does not define who you are but just adds to the qualities you have to offer. It adds to your story, your walk, your journey. It is possible to bring what you've learned from every place you've been with you in bits and pieces. You are a collage full of color, ridges, dips, and glued pieces. Life is not simply black or white. It's grey. You will not be like your parents but a mix. Your siblings will reflect who you are. Your friends will shape who you are. Ultimately, you will turn out to be the best you and there should be no shame in that. Do what helps others and makes you happy, and do not worry about if you'll lose who you were or are. You won't.
Meet Lauryn Bass, contributing writer to 247 Live Culture!