ARE COLLEGE STUDENTS ALWAYS BROKE?
Last weekend found me seated leisurely in the wrong restaurant. You know the ones where you have to google things on the menu. I obviously had on me my student ID in case I would get a bargain like I have before.
I wondered, “Are college students always broke?”
I was filling out a digital form on a website. Sadly, I had to contemplate on what tag to cozily fit in, from a drop-down list that featured student, employed, unemployed, entrepreneur and such.
Being a student is associated with many things. Dressing for example; we dudes either dress up like we’re attending a red carpet event, or like a homeless drug addict. There’s no in between. The tag ‘student’ is generally associated with a frugal freak who is in school reeking of total dependency. And nothing feels like a trap than being dependent at an age where the law is truly an ass you can ride to jail.
Last week, Coca Cola saw us scramble for free plastic-bottled sodas in a marketing drive event at our campus. Well, I secured a free T-shirt. It is the additional expenses that may be incurred while going to school that make college students scavengers who are ready to pounce at any chance to bag free goodies. While most of the rules we’re taught while growing up, like ‘don’t fall asleep in public’, can’t help us make money, it is essential that time in college be used to discover hidden talents that can help net a dime.
A friend of mine discovered recently that even though he is ugly like I’ve always been telling him, he can as well make people laugh. He earns from comedy. He makes those YouTube videos that have laugh tracks playing in the background and earns from adverts due to the generous supply of views.
Most students may be financially vulnerable but outrageously creative. On Friday nights, they miraculously convert campus residences to flippant party dens. Nevertheless, the sick bay gets its fair share of the frivolity on late Saturday mornings when clowns crowd the clinic having learnt that you can run as far and as fast as you want, but you’ll never outrun diarrhea. That’s how Daisy’s business of anti-acid and painkiller room-delivery has thrived, thanks to WhatsApp.
Therefore, while it’s true that ‘sossi soya’ will always be referred to as the de-facto diet of a campus inhabitant, the tag ‘student’ should not limit one’s financial space. For example, I’ve discovered that sitting in traffic like the non-helicopter owning loser that I am, leaves a big dent in my self esteem and bites a big chunk off my time and wallet, yet I could easily save small by riding my bike to school. It’s amazing what one can make from a molehill.
I believe we also don’t meet people by accident. We just don’t. Every person is a walking market for a good or service. And so are campus events that help students network. They can nourish the entrepreneurial spirit with ideas on how to rid colleges of the ‘being-broke’ bug.
This article was written by Capital Campus Correspondent Joe Lweya.