A Students Resolution by Laceigh

A Students Resolution by Laceigh - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

“My new year resolution is to lose weight.”
“Mine is too.”
“Mine is to to treat myself more”
“I’d like to take my whole family on vacation to the Bahama’s”
These new year resolutions probably sound all too familiar. Although they’re made with good intentions, let’s be honest… we kind of give up or “forget” about these resolutions after January or maybe even February. We lose interest or don’t see the results we want to quick enough. But what about resolutions on a student level? What resolution could a student make that would get results, lower stress levels, and literally pay off in both the present and future? I'm talking about college tuition.
College tuition is quite possibly the most talked about subject when it comes to college. Many college and high school students wonder how they will ever be able to pay for their schooling. Sure there’s scholarships and loans. But there are many students that will not receive enough money from scholarships, and loans have interest fees that can add up quick. So how can we, as students, pay for our schooling? The answer is, we budget.
A budget is a financial plan in which money is set aside in different categories. For example, the classic envelope system. Label several different envelopes with your necessities such as, toiletries, food, phone bill, etc. and, in this case, school. Every time you make money you put it into one of the envelopes accordingly. This is just one of the many ways we can learn to budget.
Students often struggle with budgeting because we always want new things. Say a hoverboard, an iPhone, nice clothes, to eat out often, and more. What we need to do is realize our priorities. School is (or should be) a priority to those seeking a lifelong career. Think about it, we go into debt because of our bad and/or unnecessary habits. You don’t need that iPhone, you need that textbook. You don’t need that cute outfit you saw at the mall, you need to pay your class registration fees.
We can accomplish these things and many have accomplished this. But, this doesn’t come without hard work. You’ll need to get a job. Maybe even two jobs. It’ll be exhausting, and hard, but worth it. Find a budget that works, remember your priorities, and stick to it!
In conclusion, having a budget will definitely at least help with those pesky college fees. The good news is that when you start to pay for your college fees you will see immediate results. If you keep to it, your balance of what you owe will slowly but surely decrease. It would be great to say you kept your 2016 resolution and paid off all your school fees!