Diary of a College Senior

Dec 13 - Money Problems

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Since Stella and I both have an exam tomorrow morning, the two of us did what any responsible student would do - we ditched our books and went to the rink first thing this morning. (Sarcasm intended, hahaha!)

The rink was pretty empty when we arrived. Just Stella and I and two other rink monitors who were already practising their twists and turns on the ice. Stella decided to practise skating backwards as there are fewer people to run into. I decided to work on my balance drills again, where I try to glide on one leg for as long as I can. Stella said it will eventually help me do a crossover.

After our skating session, we grabbed a quick lunch together before heading off to meet up with our own study groups. I was due to study with Addie and her boyfriend, Mark. The three of us ended up at a long table in a common area inside the engineering building.

Everyone is here today, I realized as I took out my notes for Construction class, which I will be writing the final for tomorrow. I saw Victoria a few tables down reading over a big pile of notes. Toby, Josef, and Neil were also there eating lunch together, laughing at a private joke. I guess it's the one upside of exam season - we all get a chance to be social.

When I checked my phone some time later, the squad chat group with Soleil, Kaya, and Stella had gone crazy.

I had casually mentioned the idea of doing a working holiday in Australia to Soleil and Kaya this morning. And as it turns out, everyone wanted to go as now is a time when we can just ditch everything and travel.

"You need to save $5000 in the bank first." Soleil wrote, which Stella and I both knew already.

"And what about the Visa? How much will that cost?" Kaya asked.

"I think $300. All Visas cost about that much." I answered.

"And a flight ticket there will cost at least $2000," Stella added.

"So let's just say $8000 in total." Soleil said, "That's a lot of money."

She was right. $8000 is a lot, especially when you have student loans to pay and barely any income, which is the case for all of us. And since my research grant was rejected (goodbye $5000), I barely have enough to cover tuition for the rest of this school year. Where on earth am I supposed to get $8000!?

And since Stella and I still want to apply to the Explore program to spend time in Montreal this summer, that will cost $2000 for flight tickets and hotels. This means I need a grand total of $10,000 to make all my travelling dreams come true. An amount that I simply do not have right now.

Such are the realities of life. Soleil, whose parents are in the middle of a divorce, is lucky that she and her mom even have a roof over their heads. Kaya comes from a divorced family as well, with a stepmother who doesn't work and two little step-brothers. I see no way how she can come up with $8000, unless she wins the lottery.

"We've got to find a better way." I told them. "Like a scholarship or program or something... anything."

"Yes!" Soleil agreed. "I am usually good at finding those, so I can try."

I told Soleil I will try too, maybe over Christmas break.

Stella said to trust Soleil on this as she is the one who always finds the best deals on things.

Soleil, after all, has travelled all over Europe and the U.S. this summer on various grants, awards, and scholarship programs. She even won another award to do an internship in Washington, D.C., starting next month! Hopefully, she can dig up something that the rest of us missed.