Ahh, to be a poor college student.
This is not the same as poverty in global terms; I will not compare my plight to that of those in the Third World, or even the lower economic class of the U.S. But I am a member of the lower class of college students, and on behalf of this underprivileged group I feel justified — especially around finals time — in urging the other two classes to appreciate how fortunate they really are.
The upper class of students, of course, are those whose bills and other “expenses” are totally covered by Mom and Dad. We do not look down on them; it wasn’t their choice to have a free ride. Any enmity we hold toward them (and we do) is not personal, but only jealousy for their comfortable situation.
The middle class is less fortunate. Mom and Dad cover most of the bills, but its members actually have to work to pay for the basic three: beer, pizza and liquor. These students still do not have to work much, but they may feel some economic stress and some discomfort in asking their parents for more money.
But neither can truly understand the struggles of the lower class. I don’t buy my books at a store; I have to get them from the public library or visit the course reserves, then swallow the overdue fines. I don’t frequent the bars; I find a cheap house party or fill from the keg of Old Milwaukee on my porch, left over from a party we had more than a month ago. Delivery pizza is only for occasions of celebration or times of extremely impaired decision-making ability. Sit-down restaurants? Only if you’re paying.
Employment for us is not an option but a necessity, and most often it is not the workplace of our choice. We can’t afford to do minimum-wage office work for some noble cause; more often, you’ll see us waiting tables, tutoring or delivering the pizza we don’t have the money to order ourselves.
Aside from limiting our social lives, this has an adverse effect on our academics as well. Twenty hours or more per week doing drudgery does not make it easy to read hundreds of pages a week — especially for a class we’re too tired to perform well in anyway. And since everyone requests off from work around finals time, we only have the choice of getting these requests in sooner than anyone else or sneaking a few pages in between job duties.
We do have the upper class of students to thank for some of our pains, since their parents are the ones that serve to drive campus housing prices through the roof. We also pay the segregated fees from our own summer jobs that pay for student organizations — organizations that we often don’t take advantage of anyway because we simply don’t have time.
Financial aid covers some of this for us, but state-sponsored institutions aren’t exactly big on the idea of grants; they figure that tuition is low enough that most people should be able to cover it. This is usually true, at least for in-staters, but tuition is not the problem — housing, utilities and food are the real killers. They are the bills that keep us sleep-deprived, trapped working long hours. These long hours aren’t always necessary for members of this lower class; my family would probably contribute to my college education if I pleaded with them. But they worked their way through college themselves, and the “back-in-my-day” effect is strong enough that my pride can’t take another lecture about being responsible with money. Other members of this class may feel bad about asking because their parents don’t have the means to support them; others might have done something to make themselves the black sheep.
But no matter what the reason for their status, the lower class of college students can take pride in their poverty. We might not have the time or money to take part in all aspects of the “college experience,” but we do get a four-year lesson in the real world (often it has to be four years, because we cannot afford the luxury of going to school for more). In the consequence-free environment of college, we learn there are restrictions. It’s not always fun, but living in collegiate poverty does make us value what is really important.
This is not to say that more privileged students cannot not get these lessons from college, as well; the difference is the lower class really doesn’t have any choice but to learn them.
Matt Lynch is a junior majoring in English and political science. Those interested in making a donation can contact him at [email protected].
Feedback Question: Is college more challenging for less-privileged student?
