Take Advantage of Being a Student, It Pays Well
Being a student is a beautiful thing. Really, it’s great to have “learning” be your primary occupation, especially when you can essentially get paid for making yourself smarter!
There are countless resources and opportunities available just for students, whether you’re in high school, college, or graduate school. The truth is, once you graduate and officially hit “non-student status” the same wondrous opportunities and access to financial resources won’t be as readily available.
Think about it—it’s not like you can get a scholarship after graduation and then use that to pay down a student loan. So fully utilize your student years as best as you can in order to graduate in great financial condition.
Realize that there are billions of dollars in funding reserved only for students. By wisely and strategically using available resources and funding, you can set yourself up for financial stability and prosperity in the future. So seek out and take advantage of these student opportunities, resources, and funding while you still can!
I took full advantage of my student status and you should definitely take advantage of yours. Here’s what I did and here’s what you can do too:
Ask for a larger financial aid package! Always remember that closed mouths don’t get fed. You can always try and ask for more financial aid—the worst that could happen is that the financial aid representative simply tells you “no.” Still, you lose nothing in the process. Take advantage of this opportunity now because it won’t be easy to get loan forgiveness or loan reduction after graduation.
Get Involved: Countless grants, awards, and scholarships are offered and available to students who spend time contributing and giving back to their campus and communities. So get active. Join a club and volunteer, learn a thing or two about different interest groups and causes—these activities offer so much more than monetary value.
Partake in FREE events, entertainment, and food on campus! Trust me, when you graduate, all this free stuff isn’t going to be around and at your disposal like it is in school or college. Take advantage of these opportunities and don’t spend money on things that you don’t have to pay for. Save whenever you can, it adds up.
Get free resume help and career counseling from your college’s career center. Don’t overlook this great resource. You can get career counseling and have a professional look over and edit your resume for free! Non-students usually have to pay hundreds, if not thousands for these types of services.
Explore different careers through student jobs, internships, and fellowships as much as possible. Getting work experience before you graduate is one the smartest things you can do. Too many students graduate in debt and aren’t able to get good enough jobs to pay that debt off, this is partly due to lack of relevant work experience. Don’t let this happen to you. Use that work-study and find a student job. If you don’t find any relevant positions, try developing your own internship or job by approaching a professor or organization in need of some assistance.
Incorporating these actions and tactics into your daily student life can bring you closer to graduating without debt and with money in the bank. You’ll thank yourself for putting in the effort before graduation. But most of all, you’ll be happy that Sallie Mae won’t be blowing up your phone, asking for her money back.