My name is Isabelle Pastore and I attend SUNY Cortland full time. I am a senior now, but I have been here since freshman year. I am from Stony Brook, Long Island. I decided to go to SUNY Cortland because my parents only allowed me to apply to SUNY schools. Cortland seemed like a good choice because I absolutely loved it when I visited. I toured a couple of other schools, but Cortland truly felt like home. A few of my friends were going to Cortland too, so I knew I would be comfortable here. I am majoring in Communications and I love it, but I’m not really sure what I want to do in the future. I pay for tuition through the help of my parents and student loans. Most of my tuition is paid through financial aid but  I am very worried about having to pay back my student loans. I work 15 hours a week over summer and winter break to help pay for my personal spendings, but it’s not nearly enough to pay my student loans. I think college should cost substantially less than it does. When my parents went to school, it cost much less and attending college was less common. I don’t think it’s fair that tuition costs so much because in today’s society, it is expected that people attend college in order to get a well paying job. I don’t like how we need to pay thousands of dollars in order to make good money. I think college should be more of a choice than a requirement. On top of tuition, students need to purchase textbooks each semester. Textbooks can cost hundreds of dollars and I truly think they should be included in tuition. 

The pandemic was a difficult time for me and my family. During COVID-19, my Dad unfortunately lost his job. Fortunately, my Mom also works so we still had an income, but it wasn’t enough for all of our everyday costs. It was hard for a while and there was even a time where I thought I would have to transfer home to attend school there. We didn’t even get Christmas presents that year. My parents wanted me to drop my sorority solely because we weren’t sure if we could afford it anymore. Thankfully, my Dad was able to get another job about a year later. 

Getting a college degree is important to me because it’s required in order to get a well paying job. I want to get my degree because I want to be able to support myself and live a fulfilling life. It upsets me that I will have to spend a good portion of my life paying back my student loans. I definitely think college should be way more affordable and less expected than it is and I hope that in the future, college is way more affordable for everyone.