Homeless, joey flanagan

HOMELESS

While the sole catalyst of stress for many students lies in academia, the number of those who have the additional pressure of finding shelter is rising every day.

by joey flanagan

A home is different to many. For some, it’s a house, a condo, an apartment or a car. According to financial aid applications, more than 68,000 students claimed to be homeless in 2019. The numbers are predicted to be even higher, considering not everyone in the country filled out an application. It is a harsh pill to swallow when we live in college towns fettered with plush apartment complexes. We tend to think about ourselves. It’s human nature. We put ourselves first and forget about how others perceive this world. When we get angry about something, we forget how little the problem actually is when there are people who don’t even know where they’re sleeping or when they’re getting their next meal. Because college is such a high expense, we assume that each person that passes us is financially stable in some way. In reality, not every student has parents that are helping them out through any factor of the college experience, or simply life in general: food, rent, a car, textbooks, computers or even basic supplies like toilet paper. Some students self-provide at such a young age, using every bit of their being to get through school every day. In addition to scholarships and taking out loans, these students rely on whatever money they can scrape up from some sweaty job to be able to live in whatever means they have. Over the years, there have been multiple documentaries and interviews with struggling college students that genuinely embody the ignorance surrounding what they go through to survive everyday life, while others are breezing right through theirs. Not much more than a year ago, Jasmine Bigham, a senior at Humboldt State University in California, was interviewed by many news outlets like CBS and Now This News about her struggles in the epicenter of young homelessness. Even on a full-ride scholarship, it’s still hard to find a place to live. Jasmine states, “If you don’t have credit, if you don’t have a lot of money, how hard it is to get a place.” In contrast, we find that most of us have parents who are willing to use their credit to support our living situations versus Jasmine, who has had to make a home out of a van in one of the school’s parking lots. A day in the life for Jasmine consists of waking up, visiting the women’s locker room, cleaning up, and visiting the library to study, and going to bed all over again to repeat the cycle – that’s it. Jasmine recalls being emotional at times and only has the bond of friends, and her goals set ahead to get her through her current situation, while others get dressed up and throw pre-games at their apartments to blow off stress and steam. Even something as simple as going out to eat with friends and having a drink is too much of a luxury to slip away from the pressures of academics. However, Jasmine and her friends find comfort in the welcome warmth of her van or even the walks to class through the school’s beautiful nature and architecture. When that “financial aid finally comes in,” take a moment and reflect on what this means for others who are less fortunate than yourself. Many memes have come from this quote on Twitter, and also how, when Spring Break comes, people say, “I’m telling FAFSA!” Yes, these tweets are relatable and funny at first for some, but there are people whose lives depend on financial aid and do not have families that send them on luxurious trips or use that extra money to self-indulge. If interested, please consider donating to some of our favorite non-profits, including the Human Rights Campaign, Happy Hippy Foundation, Covenant House, and Pride Foundation. If you are reading this article and need help or know someone in need, please feel free to contact these foundations via phone or email. The information may be found on their websites.