Apologies for not posting yesterday but last night was my flat-warming party and I couldn't find the time to post. But anyway here I am, slightly worse for wear from last night and ready to post again. Today's post is about something that I noticed today (yes, that means that I didn't even have an idea for a post yesterday!) when I was walking through the university campus. It's freshers week at the moment and so the central area of the campus is very busy with students of all ages. What that then means is that you catch small chunks of a lot of conversations as you walk past people. It's usually quite funny when you catch little parts of other people's conversations because you don't have any context as to what they are talking about and the words therefore take on potentially wide ranging meanings. The thing about today was that I noticed one word come up at least twice in conversations that I passed that can't really be misconstrued - debt. It appears to be the word on every student's lips at this time of the year because this is when we start taking it on, safe in the knowledge that one day it will all have to be paid back.
If you were to lay out the bare facts of being a university student in 2011 you would have to wonder why so many people do it. You pitch up at university, you pay lots of money for accommodation and/or travel for at least 4 years, you take out loans to fund your degree and then you get to the end of it all and, due to the current economic climate, you are not always guaranteed a job straight away. It all sounds utterly miserable but the way that I see it is this: you are investing in your future by taking on debts. Some people may be fortunate enough to be able to afford to get through university without leaving with any debts but the reality for the majority of people at university is that you're going to come out of the other end with money owed to one place or another. It's not all that nice to think that you're going to have to pay back that money either but it's money that you would not otherwise have had and, if you come out the other end with a good degree, it won't be that much of a problem provided you get a job.
Life is all about being in debt at different levels to different people. It's how economies work and it's how a lot of people make their money. My message to every student out there is to not worry about it during your time at university and just live within your means. It's actually very easy to do and life becomes a lot easier when you don't put any unnecessary financial pressures on yourself - fact.
Thanks for reading,
Martin
Actually, when you think about it, it's near impossible for some of us to 'live within their means'. If I was to live within my means I would literally not have a single penny whatsoever to live off of, since I get the bare minimum of loan, which doesn't cover my accommodation, or any of my material costs. I have no choice but to use my overdraft to live, and therefore create more debt for myself. It's just another kick in the teeth from the government for a student who comes from a fairly 'well off' family.
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