$8: What Can You Get for an Hour?
Messiah program helps students to become financially literate
With all of the costs associated with college, Messiah students are learning the importance of budgeting. A program developed by alumna Janelle Curtis-Beaman ’04 explored how students could live on $8 an hour, the average hourly wage of student employees at Messiah.
The concept
“I noticed a lot of students seemed to be nervous about money,” said Curtis-Beaman. “I thought it would be a great idea to develop an on-campus program that addressed those concerns especially in this economic climate.”
Curtis-Beaman, an employee within the College’s administrative offices, gathered sponsorships from the Office of Annual Giving and the Career Center and worked alongside individuals from the Internship Center, Residence Life, and the Agape Center for Service and Learning to spread word about the program.
The program aims to help students learn budgeting skills before they graduate, to provide a resource for students to make financial decisions more relevant in their lives, and to prove that they can still save money and have some leftover for things they want to spend it on.
“Our goal was to make budgeting and financial literacy relevant to current students not just graduating seniors,” explained Curtis-Beaman. “It also stems from the need to counteract the hard work of credit card companies who throw numbers out there that no one quite understands.”
The event
Around 60 students and several employees gathered in a collaborative effort to take a step towards financial security. Anthony Thomas ’06, Messiah’s assistant director of annual giving, and Jill Osielski ’01, grant program coordinator at Messiah’s Harrisburg Institute, spoke to students about their own experiences with budgeting.
“Providing resources on how to budget is really a part of educating students,” said Thomas. “Knowing practical steps for budgeting helps you to stay a step ahead of things when you go on to life after graduation.”
In addition to hearing from Thomas and Osielski, students learned about different types of savings options, brainstormed and categorized anything they could spend their money on, assigned percentages of their budget to those categories, and completed a survey about their own understandings about finances.
“We found from the survey that a lot of students are unsure about loans, and payments, and savings,” Curtis-Beaman reiterated. “With each survey I read, the issue of financial literacy became more and more important.”
Student progress
Most of the students that attended the program said they learned at least two things they hadn’t known before and came to the important realization that they are in charge of their own finances. Two lucky students also received $25 in cash as a start-up to their own budgeting plan.
“In my past I have never really been educated on finances,” said Holly Stachowiak ’10, one of the attending students. “I especially benefited from learning more about credit cards. Now, whenever I think of using my credit card I ask myself how quickly I’ll be able to pay the bill to be sure I don’t waste money on interest. I especially appreciated how this program provided a breakdown in percentages of where you should spend your money. As a practical thinker, this makes me feel like budgeting is possible.”
Missed out?
According to Curtis-Beaman, “It is important for people to understand the relevance of these issues. This is part of Messiah’s mission. In learning about this we are preparing students to be financial stewards.”
Two additional sessions are planned for the 2009-2010 academic year. The first will take place November 17 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m and the second on March 30, 2010 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Article written by: Erin Kriner ’10
