4 years of college = 1 degree = 10 years of debt

Many people can misunderstand the meaning of poverty. The typical picture that comes to mind is someone who is homeless or someone who runs out of food before the end of the month. Yes, these are both accurate pictures of poverty, but poverty might be closer to you than you think. Did you ever think that the girl or guy living across the hall from you in your dorm could be considered living in poverty? Many students, once they get to college, are barely able to survive.

Poverty is having very little to no money or insufficient means of support. There are many, including myself, who can't pay for college out-of-pocket, and those people depend on scholarships to cover most of the cost. However, scholarships rarely supply enough funds, and we either turn to taking out loans with ridiculous interest rates or working long hours to pay the rest of the bills. Also, many college students find themselves scraping by each month on what little they do have. We buy the store brand of everything when we grocery shop and buy hundreds of packets of Ramen because it's so dang cheap. This lifestyle is what I call "college poverty".

I'll describe my situation as an example. I had always done really well in school, participated in many clubs, fought for awards, and racked up volunteer hours. I had done all this in hopes of getting awesome scholarships that would pay for the majority of my college. However, the summer before I started college I found myself filling out all kinds of paperwork to get loans because scholarships had fallen short and my parents hadn't saved any money for my college education. I've had to take out loans for the past 3 semesters (less this semester because of more scholarship money!), and I gasp every time I get a statement because of the interest that has accumulated. I worked over the summer and got a position this fall as a Resident Advisor on campus. I've saved the majority of my money from these two jobs, wanting to have money to pay for next semester so I don't have to take out any more loans. My parents are able to send me some money each month for groceries, so I'm not as bad off as some. It's not fun having to save all my money because I, like most girls, love to shop! However, I'd rather not have 10 years after I graduate to pay off $50,000 worth of debt. So until I graduate, I'll be living on PB&J sandwiches and Ramen noodles.

Humble Pie

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the damage was beyond belief. Everyone knows what happened, so I won't go into detail about that. However, I will relate my experience with some of the Katrina victims. In the summer of 2007, my youth group from church went to New Orleans on a mission trip. By this time, most of the houses had already been gutted, so it was time for renovation. We split up into 2 groups to work on 2 different houses. The owners of the two properties were relatives and had owned a BBQ business before the storm. After Katrina hit, the business was no more. They had put all their money towards trying to get the business up and running again, and they had neglected their homes. Right before they were to reopen their business, a car crashed into the building and everything was destroyed again. Now they had no business, and no money to start repairs to their houses. This is where we stepped in. For a 3 days, we put sheet rock up in their houses. It was tough work, but none of us complained because we knew that we would have a house or a place to stay once we got home. One of the owners had gone to stay with other family after the hurricane and had only recently returned to New Orleans. The other owner, his wife, and two young children returned as soon as it was safe. They, like many others, were given a FEMA trailer to live in. This was inadequate housing for anyone, especially young children. The trailer they received had not only mold but rats. They couldn't even live in this form of temporary housing for several weeks. By the time we came down to help, they were working at steady jobs, but they couldn't afford much in the way of renovation on their skeletal houses. We left at the end of the week having finished the sheet rock in both houses. I'm sure that by now, 2 years later, their houses are finished or nearly finished. However, when we left there were still thousands of houses that hadn't even been touched except for gutting. Hopefully by now that number has decreased.

Had I not gone to New Orleans that summer, I never would have realized how the devastation had affected everyone. I knew that many lives and homes had been destroyed, but it never occurred to me that because of poverty, people weren't able to rebuild their lives. I also now see that I had been taking advantage of what I have. No, I'm not the wealthiest person alive. Heck, I can't even afford college (different blog, different day). However, I have so much more than some of the people that suffered from Katrina. I think that everyone should have a humbling experience like this at least once in their lives. There is still so much to be done in New Orleans and the surrounding areas, so if you're looking for an awesome volunteer opportunity, you should head down there and get involved with one of the many service organizations.

Thanks to "the battalion"!

Today I was reading the battalion (our school newspaper), and I found two very interesting articles relating to my topic of poverty. The first was an article from the Associated Press stating that Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, believes that the recession is on its way out. Although it is almost over, Bernanke says that it will still take several months before the employment rates go up. The next article of interest was about the relocation of Twin City Mission in Bryan. Twin City Mission is a fabulous organization that benefits the Bryan/College Station community. It's main targets are the abused and homeless. I won't focus too much on this article because it doesn't particularly concentrate on what Twin City Mission does. However, the important message from this article is that this organization is finally getting the new building it deserves. It had been based in a very old building, over 100 years old, and it was time for Twin City Mission to have a space built to fit their needs and their desires to expand.

My very first blog post!

My name is Kendall Smith and I'm a sophomore Nutrition major at Texas A&M University. I plan to be a Dietician for children for the first few years after I get my degrees. After a while, I plan on spending time in either India or Africa and assisting with providing nutritious food for those who can't afford it. I hope to work with the impoverished one day, and that's why I've chosen to write about poverty in my blog. However, I intend to focus on poverty in America. I believe that this issue is overlooked to often. The time that it is most noticed by Americans is when tragedy strikes and there are cameras swarming the people in their misery. Sure there are lots of organizations that help the poor, like Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, various food banks and religious associations. However, more money could be spent on helping these people while they're living in poverty and on helping them find their way out of poverty. I'm going to focus on how people are getting help and how we as America, along with out government could do more to help. Also, I'll discuss some of the effects that poverty has on people and how they deal with it. Hope you enjoy my blog!