Gas $50, car payments $100,rent $700, education: priceless. Tobe a student today is harder than itwas in our parents’ days.
De Anza College students not only pay fortheir books and tuition, but also forpersonal items such as dinners,trips, cars and clothes. As stressrises to new levels and bills pileup, many students drop out to putmore time on their jobs.
Students must find ways to con-tinue their college education. Helpfrom parents, loans, work study ora part-time job are all options. Itmay take asking for help.
The campus offers several pro-grams to encourage students tocontinue with their education. TheCareer Center has employment in-formation. The Financial Aid officewill help students find extra cash tofinish school. Child care on cam-pus helps young parents who wantto continue with their education.The Tutorial Center’s tutors willhelp students pass their classes.Counseling Department personnelcan suggest ways students can re-main at De Anza, then continue toa four-year university.
“Take it one step at a time,”says Don Nickel, a De Anza coun-selor. It’s all about daily decisions.Should you take 12 units whileyou’re working forty hours a weekor take 18 units and work twenty-five hours a week? A counselor canhelp you compute this equation.In the future your income willbenefit from today’s frustrations.”College graduates will earn 73percent more annually than typi-cal high school graduates,” reportsthe State Public Interest ResearchGroup.
Counselors recommend thatstudents take the Orientation toCollege class. “There they learnhow to balance work and school,”says Academic Adviser Renee Mc-Ginley.
Aim high and continue your ed-ucation. Quitting school to spendmore time at a job that gives youa 30 percent discount off clothes isa bad investment. An A.A. degreeis a better investment; it gets youcloser to a career in a field youwant.
The feeling of despair and theeasiness of dropping classes willonly delay your goals. The nexttime you are loading your back-pack, losing sleep and buying an-other parking permit, remember tokeep your eyes on the prize. “Thecost of education is the best invest-ment you will ever make. You willreap the awards at the end,” saysNickel. We couldn’t agree more.
