Financial Wellness 201

The Academy Group students, along with their staff of experts in the education space, are my biggest inspirations. Today I got to lead AM Money’s second workshop in a series on Financial Wellness In-And-Around College for a group of college freshmen who just finished their first semesters.

They were eerily more relaxed than I remember! The high school seniors that I first met over a year ago were anxious, excited, scared, and seemed to be on edge 100% of the time. These now-college-freshmen were rested but eager, as if they had finally jumped into a highly anticipated swimming pool and realized the deep end wasn’t as deep as they thought. I kept reminding them: you still gotta keep swimming and keep your head above water.

The focus of our first workshop was Building Healthy Habits. We touched on credit, loans, and budgeting routines.

This second workshop was focused on Maintaining Healthy Habits, and finding new ones!

With a semester under their belts, I couldn’t wait to hear what shenanigans they had been up to. We talked about side hustles, advocating for yourself at financial aid offices, saving for emergencies, and more details on budgeting time and resources.

One student mentioned that her side hustle at school is “flipping hydro flasks”. (Side note: they had to educate me on what that is… it’s just a fancy water bottle… someone must have gotten a big bonus for that brand name...) Apparently students lose them around school, she finds them, cleans and fixes them up, and resells them for half the price (she’s making a whopping $20 per bottle!). The whole class lit up. Another student braids hair on the weekends, one student sends her class notes to the disability department and gets paid, another tutors high school students. 

Most of the students knew that they should ask the financial aid office to see if there are any funds they can use, but I wanted to help them build confidence for the conversation.

Now that they are enrolled, the school’s highest priority is to keep them there. If they leave due to money, it doesn’t look good on the university. It’s about acknowledging that you are a good student and that you love your school, and that you don’t want to leave. Constantly advocating for yourself will show others that you are serious about making a difference at their university, and in return they will be more likely to find ways to help.

When it came to emergency savings funds, students had no idea how much they needed to save. Turns out, that’s because they all had different emergencies in mind: a new phone, a flight home if someone gets sick, a fund for medical needs… Some students had an emergency savings goal of $300, $500, $1000. Again the room lit up with argument. Obviously the number will be different for everyone, since everyone has different circumstances. If they save up a total of $300 for an emergency flight and a new iPhone when it breaks, then they need to be ready for a Spirit flight and a flip phone. It’s all about understanding our unique circumstances and setting realistic goals that will fit into them. 

Excited to prepare and host our next workshop, Financial Wellness 301, as a webinar in the next few months alongside my friends at the Academy Group! I will miss the students in the meantime and will be helping them ad-hoc to complete their FAFSAs and advocate for themselves with their bureaucratic universities. Wouldn’t want to be doing anything else :)