Recession Puts University of North Carolina Student in Bind

This new economy has drastically changed the way that I see a lot of people living. Many of the things that people thought they needed before have now dropped down on their list to things they know they only want. My mother and father were once both workers at Philip Morris, my dad is now retired and my mother was recently laid off. Without hesitation, I used to ask my mother for money for a lot things.

Due to her unemployment, I now think about her well being first. My father does not live with us and on top of that he is only getting the once a month retiree check. The reason why things have gotten so bad is because I am from Richmond, Va., and I attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The out-of-state tuition is $25,000 per year. Neither my mom nor dad are making the type of money they once were, so tuition money is harder to come by. My mom had to make an adjustment from working a full-time job and having sufficient funds to being obligated to work two part time jobs, with a car and house payment.

According to what I know, I'd say neither my mother nor father makes more than $30,000 a year. When you look at those numbers that means they only have about $5,000 for food, luxuries, house payments, etc,. I am unable to help because I am a student and don't have a job yet. The school won't let me receive work study and I don't have my car on campus so that I could work off of campus. While I do work when I come back home, in North Carolina it's a different story. While in school, I don't bother buying things such as exclusive tennis shoes and nice clothes that I like wearing because I know that I can't afford them. Considering the little they have, I would never put my family in a financial bind for something that is just a luxury, wasting their disposable income.

I reside in Charlotte, which is a big and expensive city and even though I've been here for a year I can already see some changes. If I only look at the prices of things on campus I could tell that the economic climate has changed. The parking pass price rose from $300 to $330 and all housing on campus increased about $2,000 for each dorm. In addition, our school just built a movie theater that took them three months to start because they didn't want to buy a screen quickly.

Due to the fact that I don't have my car on campus, I'm not able to go to the city too often but I can describe some things on campus as if they were part of my town. For instance, I knew the economic climate was changing when I realized that the Parking Services office was selling more passes than available parking spaces. I learned this information from a friend who works for them. All in all, I have been effected by the economy but I'm doing fine. I know plenty of others out there not doing as well as me. I'm just thankful that we are making it.