Almost All of Us Are Dependent on Someone
I’m not on financial aid, and although it would not be comfortable for my parents to pay the full sticker price for Yale, my grandparents have generously and thoughtfully offered to pay for my education. This offer is obviously a function of my white privilege: accrued family wealth is something that this country has made it very hard for people of color to acquire. I am very aware of the fact that someone is paying my way through college and it actually has contributed to my views on the student income contribution. Just because my benefactor is my grandparents and not the university doesn’t mean I’m any more entitled to my education than students on financial aid—almost all of us at Yale are dependent on someone to fund our educations.
I still worry about money, even though I don’t have to pay the student income contribution, and this year, for the first time ever (I’m a senior) I work a job on campus during the year. In fact, I now work two jobs. I have always been wary of asking my parents or grandparents for more money, so there have been many moments where I have had to think about and stress over every purchase I’ve made at Yale, especially before I moved off campus junior year. Now I’m anticipating my postgrad unemployment and getting anxious about money for that reason (moving costs, being between jobs, staying out my lease, etc. adds up). My experience of budget-related stress, however, is fundamentally different from my peers’ for one simple reason: if I ever am really strapped and have to give up and ask for money, it will always be there waiting for me. It might be kind of awkward to ask my grand/parents for it, but they will say yes, and I will be fine. Given how much financial stress has dictated my decisions, I can’t imagine how stressful finances are for my peers who must pay the student income contribution, and who have nobody to fall back on if they can’t make all $6,000 themselves.
When I was younger I was unable to hold down jobs on campus, despite trying several times, because my extracurricular commitments overwhelmed me and made me unable to devote even a few hours a week to working. It wasn’t just that I had a lot to do, though. Right now I’m busier than I’ve ever been with extracurriculars, and yet I’m much better able to hold down the responsibilities of a job. I think that as a freshman and sophomore, especially transitioning from a public high school, I needed a lot of time to get my bearings and adjust mentally. My mental health was a lot less stable when I was new at Yale, because a lot of the time I didn’t feel I belonged, and I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to prioritize my own health while meeting others’ expectations. So I took time, time that I could afford to take, to figure that out, and in the end I came out with the ability to work a full week of twelve-hour days, zipping from meeting to essay writing to job to YPU debate without breaking a sweat. I don’t think I would have been able to gain that capacity if I hadn’t had that invaluable extra time as an underclassman. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to take that time if I had been paying towards a student income contribution.
I still worry about money, even though I don’t have to pay the student income contribution, and this year, for the first time ever (I’m a senior) I work a job on campus during the year. In fact, I now work two jobs. I have always been wary of asking my parents or grandparents for more money, so there have been many moments where I have had to think about and stress over every purchase I’ve made at Yale, especially before I moved off campus junior year. Now I’m anticipating my postgrad unemployment and getting anxious about money for that reason (moving costs, being between jobs, staying out my lease, etc. adds up). My experience of budget-related stress, however, is fundamentally different from my peers’ for one simple reason: if I ever am really strapped and have to give up and ask for money, it will always be there waiting for me. It might be kind of awkward to ask my grand/parents for it, but they will say yes, and I will be fine. Given how much financial stress has dictated my decisions, I can’t imagine how stressful finances are for my peers who must pay the student income contribution, and who have nobody to fall back on if they can’t make all $6,000 themselves.
When I was younger I was unable to hold down jobs on campus, despite trying several times, because my extracurricular commitments overwhelmed me and made me unable to devote even a few hours a week to working. It wasn’t just that I had a lot to do, though. Right now I’m busier than I’ve ever been with extracurriculars, and yet I’m much better able to hold down the responsibilities of a job. I think that as a freshman and sophomore, especially transitioning from a public high school, I needed a lot of time to get my bearings and adjust mentally. My mental health was a lot less stable when I was new at Yale, because a lot of the time I didn’t feel I belonged, and I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to prioritize my own health while meeting others’ expectations. So I took time, time that I could afford to take, to figure that out, and in the end I came out with the ability to work a full week of twelve-hour days, zipping from meeting to essay writing to job to YPU debate without breaking a sweat. I don’t think I would have been able to gain that capacity if I hadn’t had that invaluable extra time as an underclassman. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to take that time if I had been paying towards a student income contribution.
