Financial Literacy of Students by Ethan

Financial Literacy of Students by Ethan - January 2023 Scholarship Essay

When I first graduated High School, I moved out of my parents' home and started working full time. I was working a job where I was making decent money, enough that I could pay the bills. It was the first time that I had, as some people say, “adult money.” This made it so I would play with money and use it the moment I got it. I was basically living paycheck to paycheck. As you can probably guess, this didn’t end well for me and my finances.
I knew I needed to start building credit so I could eventually get a car and a home. I had not been taught how to be smart with money. I was never taught how to budget, save, what to spend on, how to build credit without going into debt, and how to keep myself financially safe. This caused me to spend a lot on a credit card and it hurt me financially.
I am currently working at America First Credit Union, and I have been working on getting out of the debt that I got into. As a credit union employee, I have learned more about financial literacy. As a lending supervisor I have taught people how credit works, how to budget and how to spend their money. It has helped me realize that debt is not always a bad thing, but debt is a bad thing when used incorrectly. Financial literacy is an extremely important skill to be successful throughout life.
My proposal of what elective/extracurricular activity needs to be a required class is financial literacy. A class that would help students to learn basic financial knowledge as a foundation for their future would prepare UVU students to enter life after college and face financial challenges comfortably. Working in the banking world, I see countless people have their lives ruined by getting into debt and not being able to afford it. Here at Utah Valley University, there is a financial literacy club but having it as a required course would benefit young and old college students to start on their path to financial freedom.