For young students who are not used to receiving large sums of money, the temptation to spend it all could be overwhelming.
“In my case, the CNMI scholarship paid for my tuition and books, while I had additional financial aid for other expenses. My own money to have in my pocket,” said Raquel Borja, who is currently a learning coordinator volunteer in Americorp.
Borja was just 17 years old when she started at Northern Marianas College after graduating from Tinian High School and majored in Natural Resources.
Borja, now 20 years old, says that she “did plan on listing on what I wanted to get once I got my scholarship money. But money talks and I knew that I had to save money. I was a full time student and I had no work, so in the end, that money was what lasted me through my school year.”
“I mean, I bought the necessities of what I needed for school such as clothes and various stuff, and so basically, I blew it,” she sighs.
Borja knows of some of her friends who ended up in suspension with the scholarship office.
“I do have friends that did blow their money and grades. Some of them actually are in debt to pay NMC. I was different, I am just in probation. I didn’t meet my GPA standards of the scholarship requirement,” she said.
She has yet to fix her probation status while her advisors have informed her to get herself out of limbo by getting back to class.
“I am in the middle of working right now and taking a break from school. I mean, I just finished high school and then went to college straight off, so it was a hard transition,” Borja says.
Handling money is not easy, she noted.
“I would be in middle of saving my money and yet I totally blow it off completely. I mean, really, it does not happen everyday that a teenager gets $1,000.00 for themselves,” laughs Borja. “We aren’t being taught on how to be responsible with savings and stuff.”
After this learning experience, Borja advises that “teens should know your limit and minimize. Stay motivated always, because if you lack motivation, it all goes down hill.
Not being motivated caused me to not go to class, and one day usually adds to another day to another day and eventually, you fail that class. So teens, stay motivated!”
