The Old College Try, Costing More

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Morning Edition, October 28, 2008 · The financial crisis is forcing commentator
Mia-Sarah Abedullah of Youth Radio and Junior at HS of Fashion Industries to make some changes.

I've had an NYU flag on my wall for almost as long as I can remember. It's where I always imagined myself going to college. But this global economic crisis situation thing has forced me to rethink my plans.

About 2 months ago, my mom lost her job from Citigroup, one of the largest financial companies
in the world, where she had worked for over 21 years. We all just assumed that she would work
there forever. My mom's been the sole breadwinner for me and my two sisters ever since my dad died when I was just 5 years old.

So now a lot of things are changing in my house. Like sushi, for instance. We love it and used to
go out for it all the time, but now the four Abdullah woman aren't out enjoying Miso Soup and
Spider Rolls together. Sushi has become a delicacy — just like college.

NYU, Tulane, and Columbia are all schools I considered applying to, but now they all seem
too expensive. Boston University, another school I was excited about, would cost my family
more than $270,000 upon graduation! Even with financial aid and scholarships, schools
like these seem out-of-reach now.

But maybe they always should have seemed out-of-reach. If both of my sisters also
spent that kind of money, my family would be looking at close to a million dollars
in tuition costs. That's just coo-koo.

My mom and I haven't even talked about tuition costs yet. But maybe her job loss has saved
us from having another difficult conversation. She doesn't have to ask me to consider
state schools — I'm looking at them all on my own. SUNI Binghamton is a great university.
Maybe it's not an Ivy League college, but do I really need to mortgage my future on
student loans?

I'm lucky that I'm still a high school junior. Maybe the economy will be healthier by the
time I'm heading to college. I might be the eldest daughter, but for now I'm not the one
my family is focusing on sending to school.

We're getting ready for my mom to go back to community college this spring,
to train for a new, and hopefully more stable, career.

Commentator Mia-Sarah Abedullah of Youth Radio is 16. She lives in Brooklyn.