Decreasing My College Debt
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Karl and I am about to become a freshman at UC Davis.
Just like coming to the Unites States when I was 14 years old from Chile, I have realized that college has a lot of opportunities to offer thier undergraduates—such as interships, research, sports, studies abroad, and several academic classes— and I would personally like to experience and learn from each one of them; to enrich my knowledge, progress as a human being, and be prepare for what comes next. However, all these opportunities are already becoming a challenge to obtain.
One of the main problems that is making my college career quiet a challenge is its costs. For example, I have recently updated my residence status to indication that I am a California resident and I attended high school all four years. If I had not done that in time, they would have placed me as a nonresident and I would have to pay a total amount of 63,000 dollars per year! And I don’t even have to job. Now, however, my total tuition went down by a big margin of 30,000 dollars, much more manageable but still a lot of capital for someone who need to be focusing on education.
One of the solutions to this conflict, are finding a part-time job at Davis, which would allow me to pay most of the tuition in time without having to ask for loans. On the other hand, it would interrupt my education in several ways; from having enough time to study to doing a research project. It would also affect a social aspect of my life and give me less time to pursue one my very important passions, running. So, at the end it isn’t really a solution.
A better way to solve the problem will be asking for a loan. By doing this, I wouldn’t have to work during college and I would have more “free time” to focus on school and run with the team at Davis. Nevertheless, there is a down side to it, which comes after I graduate from college. Its down side would be to pay more than 100,000 dollars to the loan company with interest after graduation. While this may not seem as a big problem for someone people, it is a big problem for me because it interferes with my returning to Chile. After I graduate, I plan to take everything I learned back to Chile to help improve the country in all ways. Unfortunately, instead of taking me 10 years or so to pay the loan in the US, it would take me around 50 years to pay it if I would have to work in Chile because people earn way less over there. So, with all honesty, I would rather find another way of paying for college and not ask for a loan.
Because of that, I have been also applying to different scholarships and organizations that could help me pay for college, like gofundme. And I’m hoping to not fully depend on only one source of income, but a combination of them; having my parents put the money they can afford, applying for scholarships, taking a summer job, getting an internship, asking for small loans, etc. That way, I can pay for most of my college tuition, or perhaps all of it, and enjoy my college experience together with my adult life.
Just like coming to the Unites States when I was 14 years old from Chile, I have realized that college has a lot of opportunities to offer thier undergraduates—such as interships, research, sports, studies abroad, and several academic classes— and I would personally like to experience and learn from each one of them; to enrich my knowledge, progress as a human being, and be prepare for what comes next. However, all these opportunities are already becoming a challenge to obtain.
One of the main problems that is making my college career quiet a challenge is its costs. For example, I have recently updated my residence status to indication that I am a California resident and I attended high school all four years. If I had not done that in time, they would have placed me as a nonresident and I would have to pay a total amount of 63,000 dollars per year! And I don’t even have to job. Now, however, my total tuition went down by a big margin of 30,000 dollars, much more manageable but still a lot of capital for someone who need to be focusing on education.
One of the solutions to this conflict, are finding a part-time job at Davis, which would allow me to pay most of the tuition in time without having to ask for loans. On the other hand, it would interrupt my education in several ways; from having enough time to study to doing a research project. It would also affect a social aspect of my life and give me less time to pursue one my very important passions, running. So, at the end it isn’t really a solution.
A better way to solve the problem will be asking for a loan. By doing this, I wouldn’t have to work during college and I would have more “free time” to focus on school and run with the team at Davis. Nevertheless, there is a down side to it, which comes after I graduate from college. Its down side would be to pay more than 100,000 dollars to the loan company with interest after graduation. While this may not seem as a big problem for someone people, it is a big problem for me because it interferes with my returning to Chile. After I graduate, I plan to take everything I learned back to Chile to help improve the country in all ways. Unfortunately, instead of taking me 10 years or so to pay the loan in the US, it would take me around 50 years to pay it if I would have to work in Chile because people earn way less over there. So, with all honesty, I would rather find another way of paying for college and not ask for a loan.
Because of that, I have been also applying to different scholarships and organizations that could help me pay for college, like gofundme. And I’m hoping to not fully depend on only one source of income, but a combination of them; having my parents put the money they can afford, applying for scholarships, taking a summer job, getting an internship, asking for small loans, etc. That way, I can pay for most of my college tuition, or perhaps all of it, and enjoy my college experience together with my adult life.
Organizer
Karl Zahlhaas Liebner
Organizer
Redwood City, CA
