Food. Movie tickets. Partying. New clothes. Week after week we find ourselves trying to find money to pay for all this.
An increasing trend at Fairfield appears to be a simple phone call to Mom and Dad asking to send us a little extra spending money.
Jennifer Stedman ’07 lives in the townhouses now. She faces some of the difficulties upperclassmen have as they rely less on Barone.
“I’m completely dependent on my parents, especially for gas and groceries,” she said.
With ever-increasing gas prices and groceries costing about $50 a week, it appears to be difficult to find money to pay for these necessities.
It is hard to manage classes, work, join clubs and then still find time to have a job on the side to help satisfy other expenses. Even with a job, it does not necessarily give you the amount of money required to fill the traditional Fairfield lifestyle.
“I try to make whatever money I make at my job last. If it doesn’t, I might ask for some money, but usually I just live like a true poor college student,” said Shona Durkin ’07.
On the other side of this issue are the students who remain completely financially independent from their parents.
Aaron Rude ’08 says he, “works like a dog during the summer.”
This is because he is responsible for paying for all of his own expenses.
“It makes me proud that I can say that I own everything that I have. I’m happy to have to pay for my own things,” he said.
In other countries, as soon as young adults move out of the house they are considered independent. In America, however, while the move is usually earlier and the young adult often wants to be independent, they still occasionally depend on their parents when finances are concerned.
During the summer, another situation seems to be in place.
Laura Ernst ’08 says her goal for the summer is to work as many hours as she can, so that she has enough money to support herself throughout her junior year.
“I’m used to working all the time because my parents got me independent at a young age,” she said.
Courtney Nicholas ’08, is in a similar situation and doesn’t seem to mind. She is working for everything this summer, however her parents may help her pay for her summer course books.
“I like paying for myself,” she said.
On the other hand, Meghan Popick ’07 is using her last summer as an undergraduate to build up her resume. She is doing Orientation Board and going to Ecuador for six weeks, so having a permanent job will be difficult.
“I’ll work whatever hours I can when I’m home, but it will be difficult to make enough for the summer and for senior year,” she said.
For most college students, summer represents a time to work in order to afford the expenses that come along with the upcoming school year. However, once back at Fairfield, a little help from parents when summer funds get low always seems to be appreciated.
Leave a Reply