By : A . Eakins
TO MY FUTURE AND RECENT GRADUATES:
How is life after High School? Dull is what I’ll
say. All I see everyday is work and my bed, so
I really did not think college was for me due to
my financial situation until I explored my options.
Get your notepads and pens ready because we
are going to cover a lot.
No matter your situation, transportation or
your inability to learn, YOU CAN DO IT. There
are so many available experts around, including
in your school and your communities that should
be taken advantage of. If you live in either the
Harris County or Galveston County areas, I
know that there are over 100 available resources
in every school district, As of now, I am a part
of this amazing program that is a work studybased
group. You work and they will help you in
any way to get you into school and contribute.
(Keep on reading. I have more to tell).
ASK, ASK, AND ASK! RESEARCH & ABSORB
: Find anything you can. Talk to anybody
you can talk to. I promise resources are usually
less than 30 minutes away. Speaking from my
experience after high school, I was lost. I knew
college wouldn’t be for me because I feared I
would be in debt my whole life trying to pay off
college loans, but it does not have to be that way.
Call your high schools, junior colleges and local
community offices. Tell them you want to go
to school but do not have the money for it. Trust
me, the device you’re on 24/7 will get you the
tools you need to go to college.
I know it may sound crazy, but go to your
search application and type in “ How to get into
college with no money?” You’ll be surprised at
all the websites that pop up that lead to applying
for scholarships. They even have scholarships
for just three hours of community service. You
can go on college websites and apply for the
different scholarships that they offer or different
scholarships that they have from different restaurants,
such as Taco Bell and McDonalds or
scholarships for just being a young woman.
I’m here to help you and I want to pass along
my knowledge. YES I am talking to you, because
you who are reading this will be successful. Do
not let obstacles stop you. It’s never to late to get
your life started.
Let’s take a few seconds to add up college
costs by comparing and contrasting College of
The Mainland (COM, your local community college)
and The University of Houston (U of H).
In district, the total cost of COM for one semester
is $6,245 including books & supplies,
tuition, and personal/miscellaneous, The total
cost of one semester at Houston is $24,605,
Yes, ONE semester. Now I know what you’re
thinking, “I will have to start out taking loans.
That’s not necessarily the final answer, so start
expanding your options. If you would like to take
out loans, do you know there are many different
types of college loans? Neither did I, until
I started researching. The two that you have to
look out for and know the difference of is subsidized
and unsubsidized. They nay sound similar,
but they are different.
With subsidized loans, you pay the loans back
within six months after you leave school. With
unsubsidized loans, you pay the loans off during
college. Imagine that, paying for other wants and
necessities and on top of that paying off loans?
Did you know every year you attend college the
price for your tuition goes up? Yes sir and ma’am
it goes up, sometimes in some cases it might
remain the same but be prepared when it doesn’t.
Millennials, sorry to change your outlook on college, but I have to
open your eyes to the possibilities and give you the knowledge before
you end up in debt and do not even know it. The best tip that I
could possibly give you is to look for colleges close to home, or find
colleges by family members and stay off campus. Apply to FASFA,
which is a free application to help you get the financial aid that you
need for college. If you do have a college you would like to attend,
most offer Work Study programs. Work Study programs are either
on campus or off of campus and can help you get you a job that will
pay either once a month or every other week to help you pay for your
college expenses.
I know you may have a dream college (I did as well), but if you feel
like you would not be stable and comfortable knowing your stressing
out about the costs, move around, Google is your best friend. At the
end of the day it is not where you go it’s what you know.
Editor’s Note: Asireya Eakins joined our staff through the same program
that brought us Xander Sholmire and she is proving to be equally as wonderful.
I was speaking with Asireya about the possibility of doing some
writing and she shared this opinion piece with me. I have asked her to
write a column for AcCOMplish More to give her the opportunity to research
her career path opportunities at College of The Mainland. Watch
This Space to see what she comes up with.
The “work study based group” Asireya is referring to is through the
Texas City Texas Workforce and offers job opportunities for individuals
who meet certain criteria, including the physical, personal and financial
impacts of Harvey.
