I’m a junior at Hunter College majoring in Art History & Arts Management and Leadership, looking to work in the non profit and for profit arts in NYC. I pay for college with FAFSA, TAP, Pell Grant with the rest by working while going to school. The size of TAP has been an issue for me because I have to pay a lot due to my parents income but they do not contribute to my colleges fees at all. I am a first generation student and its difficult to not grow in an environment that does not prioritize studying. I have fair fares which cuts my fare rate in half but its still money taken away from school fees.This semester i bought a textbook that was almost $300 and I still had to buy other books.And for food,I rarely eat as I do not qualify for food stamps if I live with my parents even if I pay for my own things. This is the reality of many students in New York City. Advisement is not well suited for directing students to the proper places and often set a student back. I’ve been taking matters into my own hands regarding assistance with campus resources and my degree path. The buildings are dilapidated. There are nasty water leaks on one floor and broken tables in equipment on the next.In a class,a chair was broken and when I sat it stabbed me in the leg because metal was jutting out.In the womens restroons there are missing ceiling tiles and actual tiles in the bathrooms inside and over the stalls which make me worry that someone may have purposely done that or purposely not fixed it for nefarious reasons. The state of these buildings does not strike me with the joy that one should have when walking into college.

Through my personal experiences, growing up/ living in D.C., and even my high school it would all lead to me taking the leap and studying history here at SUNY Cortland. Post college I am seeking to work in the field of public history, public speaking, or governmental work. Though I wish I could live comfortably like other countries with free or even cheaper I still do have to pay for college through a combination of loans and paying for scholarships. In addition I have to work at least 20 hours week just to survive without any extra amenities.I am not eligible for TAP because I am a resident of D.C. not New York.Both luckily and unfortunately I am the first person to go to college. With this comes with the burden of setting examples to come and having no support or advice on college life. Paying back the school and other expenses simultaneously is the biggest challenge with college because it puts so much stress and anxiety on me about in and post college. I can’t always do all of the fun things my friends re doing because I don’t have networks of money. All of my time is for business never leisure.

I am majoring in linguistics and literacy. I hope to continue work in human services, whether this be through working in education, speech pathology, or research. My tuition is paid solely through federal and state grants. I support my other college expenses by working 20 hours a week. As an independent student, it was a very difficult process to get TAP. There should be much more support on the state’s end for things such as paperwork, since that was the main issue I ran into. It takes 8-12 weeks to review requests for independent students, which means I did not get my aid amount until the very end of the semester. My biggest challenge is knowing that my tuition might not be accounted for every semester. I have trouble affording transportation costs. This is part of the reason I chose so many online classes. At my school, it is such a hassle to get advised. Before my first semester, I waited on zoom for hours to talk to an advisor. Now, trying to get advised for the fall is another hassle. We don’t have designated advisors in my department, just professors who have other things to do besides advise us. I don’t attend many in person classes. But the many broken links of CUNY have made the sites hard to navigate sometimes.

I’m a political Science major at Hunter graduating this semester. I paid for my higher education through FAFSA. I’d want TAP to be more proactive in notifying students to file, or even of its existence. I feel like there are students are unaware of TAP. One of my biggest issues is transportation costs. I didn’t have enough money to pay for a swipe and the train was coming, so instead of refilling my card I jumped the turnstile. Cops pulled to the side and gave me a ticket instead of a warning, which was so frustrating because it was hard to pay that ticket off. I almost never paid for a textbook or book in college just because some of the prices were outrageously high. I always relied on student networking (group chats, classroom) to share the textbook/book with me. It’s frustrating to see that professors are prevented from sharing the textbook for free for their students. Honestly, the worst experience at Hunter is the support system. It’s so bureaucratic and burdensome, I can’t speak with an adviser without having to send an email or make a virtual appointment. I’ve never seen my advisor or talked to my advisor, until my final semester. These offices are not welcoming to students and reminisce the same vibe as a DMV. There’s also issues with the infrastructure is terrible, I was constantly reminded of it every where I walked in Hunter. It really feeds into the stigma of public schools. The elevators are consistently useless, it’s honestly faster to take the stairs.