It’s time to do BETTER!

Preparation, the common enemy for the college adult, but at Southern University it is needed. The reason I added adult at the end of that phrase and not kid, because if you’re old enough to be placed in handcuffs, you’re old enough to understand the system at Southern University. Nothing will be done for you and no one will hold your hand during your entrance into this school, because you are an adult.
What do you do when you wake up in the morning? If you’re getting dressed and ready for the bi-polar weather in Louisiana, you’re making preparations. Why can’t we apply that to everything in life?
At first, I was like all of you, a fresh virgin to the Southern University Financial Aid system and was so confused by all of those weird phrases, letters, and conjurations.
After my first semester, however I had to gather some rich intelligence and master the system all on my own.
First, before you go home for the semester, speak with financial aid about your billing statement and if you’re able to pay for school in the next semester. If you know you had to pay back 3000 dollars in the first semester, then it’s nobody else’s fault but yours when you come back the next semester and still have a balance. It’s common knowledge but I guess common sense isn’t so common.
I know everyone is ready to rush home after finals because of nostalgia or maybe you’re ready to take a break from this hectic system for a minute. But it would take so little of your time to know the status of your education.
And before people read this COMMENTARY and jump down my throat, my scholarship posted on my account for a year instead of a semester and I had to take consequences for my greed. If I would’ve read my papers directly or took the effort to check for errors, I wouldn’t have to pay Southern 2,934 dollars back. By the way, that was cash, not credit, and all bitterness.
And in my Senior year, I made the mistake and messed up on my FASFA, because of the common mistake of not READING and made a trip to the “lovely” IRS office for 8 hours for them to give me a slip of paper with my name and information saying basically I’m broke, give me money.
Since you’re an adult and not a child anymore, it is time to take responsibility for your own actions, when you’re standing in those long lines, think, is this my fault?This may not apply to all of you though.
I’m sick of hearing “OMG it’s financial aid’s fault for doing this to me” when it’s your fault for not taking necessary preparations. You’re not entitled to anything just because you’re black, slavery, blah blah blah, that doesn’t turn into cold hard cash to pay the education system.
Financial aid is not empty of sin because they are all human just like we are but come on now, some of these people have been doing this for years and they know how it works.
Here’s a tip to prepare for the worst, during the break, call up here between 9:30 – 11:00 am and then after 1 because of possibly long lunch breaks, and ask about how much there is to pay back. Return at a suitable time to pay or receive a deferred payment so there’s only one day of long lines. Doesn’t that sound like a plan?
Take it from a bitter soul like me, read, and take necessary precautions to your life.