By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
I have found that just by being a student in the modern day already helps you understand how to manage your money better. There are so many expenses to be kept in mind, that they make you think twice in buying yourself a treat. Of course, there must always be a reserve for your jeepney fare, but even school projects nowadays are getting more expensive. Add into that, if you end up with an inconsiderate teacher then say goodbye to most of your money before the week even ends.
50 pesos is absolutely not enough for any student. A lot of students who live far from their schools spend nearly 50 pesos just for a one way trip to town. You would think that with the digitalization of almost everything in life, a lot of teachers still require physical papers to be passed, that’s another expense in printing and an even bigger one if the teacher wants it colored.
Among our final requirements, there is the passing of papers related to our thesis and the first parts of the thesis itself. By my own estimate now, that will cost more than 50 pesos.
In most days, due to early schedules, students resort to eating their breakfast at school and sadly there is no satisfactory and nutritious meal worth only 50 pesos in the canteen. It’s not like you could just encourage students to make do with the cheap junk foods.
Money, money, and money, at some weeks where every submission, printing and requirements for a project coincide, that is all you could think of. You scrutinize every aspect of your budget plan, think of what you can cut off from your existing spending plan, and sometimes you end up sacrificing an entire meal for the sake of meeting your requirements.
There is no point in comparing how much money each generation needed for a week. Truth is, no generation is ever the same, each brings its own set of challenges. Having to make do with a measly 20 pesos per week back in the day should not be justification to expect students to make do with 50 pesos. We want the next generations to have it better than us, for that is the point of why so many parents work hard.
The norm of being content with less should be broken. It is simply inhumane and should not be imposed upon the next generations. Each young person should bloom brighter than the last, blessed with more opportunities than his father had, and given more chances to fail than his mother had.
Make it the utmost taboo to drag the younger people into the depths just for you to have company.
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