A Future for Those That Were Destined to Fail by Natalie

A Future for Those That Were Destined to Fail by Natalie - July 2022 Scholarship Essay

The words “Congratulations Natalie” jumped at me as I opened my Northeastern University acceptance letter. As a first-generation student, I had always believed I was destined to fail, not because of anything I could control, but because I could never even hope for the opportunities that many others take for granted. Despite this looming feeling that all my effort would end up being for nothing, I tried my hardest and took full advantage of the opportunities I was lucky enough to get. This acceptance meant everything to me as it proved to me that my hard work had truly paid off.
I’ve now completed my first year in college and the journey has been intense. I found myself battling with imposter syndrome mainly due to the idea in the back of my mind that I was only at this school because of affirmative action. This on top of my financial instability put a constant strain on my mental health but I was able to finish my first year within the top of my class. I saved, what I thought was, a sufficient amount of money from working in my junior and senior year of high school. Little did I know that this money was barely enough to get me through one semester of college. I remember asking the school for more money and instead receiving a pamphlet of how to apply for a loan. My siblings struggling with student debt from loans has haunted me since I was in high school and the idea that I needed a loan so early on in college, did not help. I was unable to control my emotions in the financial aid office, breaking down into tears because I didn’t know how I was going to be able to pay my tuition. I know there are many students who ask for financial aid, thus I was not upset at the school more than I was at the overall situation and education system. My siblings are the farthest back I know of student debt, but student debt has been around since the beginning of education. My high school professor was 55 and still paying his student debt. I remember wondering why it was so hard to pay this debt back and how this debt even accumulated to this extent even for a four-year education. This debt is especially high for low income and underprivileged students who have no help paying their tuition and are on their own.
The biggest change I would like to see in education is family financial status becoming less of a factor in academic success. One way this could be accomplished is by the government providing more assistance for low-income, underprivileged students. The government needs to increase funding for these students so that they are able to receive the higher education they deserve. The reason a lot of these students are not able to receive education is because of their financial instability and the worry of student debt. This very reason almost stopped me from going to college. One of my best friends had to go back to her home country so that she would receive the education she could, and another had to drop out of college because he was convinced the financial burden was not worth it. It is important that the government helps provide cheaper education for students so that education is not limited to students financially stable.
Another issue I see is that many low-income students struggle with the jump from high school to the real world. The vast majority of these students graduate high school with effectively zero financial literacy. They are then thrust, as I was, into the real world having to balance succeeding academically with managing expenses and paying tuition. The only reason I was able to know more about financial literacy and college was because I gained acceptance into EMERGE, an organization that helps low-income students attend selective and expensive private universities. Without this, I would’ve been just as lost as many of my classmates. I believe an effective way to tackle this issue would be to change the high school curriculum. Every year students should have to take at least one class that will help them prosper in life non-academically. One class can provide knowledge on the importance of financial literacy so that students are aware of how to properly manage money. Another class could be college and scholarship information. A lot of low-income students cannot even fathom the idea that selective, private universities would help them more financially than state universities. Another class could provide knowledge on future responsibilities, how to carry these out, and where to receive resources. Examples of these responsibilities are income taxes and the process of buying a home. These are life skills that are crucial and that many usually have no idea where to even start.
These are two changes that I hope to see in education in the next 10 years. They are predominant issues that I saw growing up in my community and that are crucial so that more students are better off in their life following high school.