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I never discussed my financial situation with my friends in college or even now. I know that some people got the impression that I was rich because I went to a private school for highschool, but that wasn't the case. Education was a priority to my mother so she sacrificed things for herself to pay my tuition as well as my sisters. She was as generous as she could be. I had a job on campus for a while, some student loans, a scholarship, a grant, and my mother paid the rest.
My job freshman year was in the financial aid office answering the phones and filing applications. I would get phone calls from students saying they "needed" financial aid so they could pay their $500 phone or credit card bills. They would cry to me that their parents wouldn't pay their bills. I had to tell them that financial aid wasn't for that and would forward their call to the job locator office. They would get more upset because they had never held a job. It was kind of funny, but also kind of sad. It must have been a rude awakening for them. Also you could tell when the financial aid checks would come in because students would be sporting expensive new outfits. One girl I worked with thought it was ridiculous that we were working so hard for a quarter more than minimum wage and the students with loans wore outfits that cost more than we earned in a semester. I tried not to judge, but it was frustrating. I guess working there built character. It certainly decreased my loan burden.
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