By OSAM SAKAMOTO
Columnist
Financial difficulty has deprived young men and women of many dreams and great opportunities to be successful.
An article from last week’s Northwestern News reported some bad news: decreasing enrollment. According to the report, this year’s enrollment is 2,171 — 141 less than a year ago.
The result is quite depressing to see; however, the most heart-crushing thing to me is that some of my friends are also included in the number. They have decided to take a break from attending the college and raise their future tuition funds. In fact, there are a lot more students who are trying to achieve their college education under the stress of not having enough money.
For example, I have a friend who has a decently wealthy family, but is unable to get financial help from them. His situation made him isolated from any financial aid as a result. Furthermore, some students can successfully receive financial aid; on the other hand, the amount they get is often not enough to cover the total cost of a semester. Not being proud, I am also striving to graduate from this college with a financial burden, chasing my big dream to be a registered nurse. Today, I am counting on my low paycheck from being a part of the newspaper team as a columnist and photographer to cover my tuition.
There should be some ways to help students under financial hardship. For instance, the school could offer more varieties of scholarships to aid students in a tight spot, which would be a bright light in the darkness to them.
In addition, although it requires true effort and hope, establishing a student financial support policy would be a key factor in solving this problem, which can be a benefit to the college as well. By assuring a college education to both future and current students, Northwestern Oklahoma State University may become the kind of university high school graduates and transfer students consider, seeking affordable costs and quality education that this college can proudly provide.
Therefore, these ideas should be worth considering because college students genuinely do not come to drop out, but to seize the better.
Ultimately, if the college could contribute more to students who are in a situation, their motivation to graduate should be strengthened. Besides that, the college can be involved in their lives and offer them great opportunities later on.
We as students are looking for a career we are truly passionate about and live up to each day. We are inspired by people from a similar background; this college can help students to reach their goals. (Whoop-whoop!).