Talking to people about their financial situations can be extremely uncomfortable for both you and the person you are speaking with. This can be a sore subject for those struggling with financial burdens, especially for the group I spoke with all of which were college students who worry about the burden tuition here at UD places on them. I chose to speak to my three roommates and two business majors down the hall. 

First I spoke to the two business majors down the hall, I asked “When I say the word economy what is the first thing that comes to mind?”. John’s eyes lit up, this topic is very interesting to him. He is a business major who follows the stock market and loves to be informed about our economy. He began to ramble about things I could barely understand, this was when I realized I have no educational background on this topic and maybe I should become informed however I have no interest in it. One thing that John had a huge belief on is that people who think that “the rich should be taxed more are ignorant and wrong”. I asked him why he thought this and he said that the rich work to get to where they are and that taxing them more would be insulting. He explained that even if the money was inherited that someone in their family hustled to get that money and it is not their fault that they worked hard and made more money. Joe explained that to his knowledge his family has never struggled economically. He claimed his family was “financially comfortable” and has never struggled to make ends meet. 

After speaking to the guys I walked down the hall to my room and asked my roomates their financial situations. I asked my roommate Alexis what her biggest struggle is money wise. Alexis explained how she was worried about the future because of everything she doesnt know. She explained how she “[wished] they had classes in highschool that explained things like 401 k’s, saving for retirement and paying taxes”. My other roommate chimed in and agreed she said she doesn’t know how to be in a good financial situation where she can afford what she needs at the moment while still saving for her future. I asked her if she were able to take a course at UD would she and she replied with of course. I asked my third roommate what she struggled with and my roommate replied with “tuition” a simple one word answer which sparked a major conversation in my room. Everyone basically had the same overall opinion on this topic, everyone agreed that education shouldnt have a price tag. They believe that housing, food and textbooks are reasonable but the “tuition” cost is unreasonable especially at private universities.