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.