I am Maurysha Cuttino. I am a senior at Suny Cortland hoping to pursue my degree in Professional Writing. I am from Tully NY, and my Assembly Member is John Lemondes and my Senator is Rachel May. I chose a SUNY school for many reasons, mostly for cost and distance. 

Though SUNY schools are cheaper they are still a lot of money and put people in a lot of debt. I am a future step-parent, and do help take care of my significant other’s kids. I am always worrying about money problems from school and other costs. I even ran into an issue this semester involving a single class and the possibility I may have to come out of pocket for it. I want to obtain my degree in hopes to develop a better career for myself as well as live my dream. I wish schools were free for those with less money or no family help. I know I could do so much better within classes and school without having to worry about if I’ll have enough money for coal, or if I need to miss a day of class to work an extra shift.

Because of costs and financial concerns, I never got the true college experience that most have in movies. I never got the sports or club experience due to the fact I had to make a living. I work full time overnights in addition to being a student. I think people don’t realize that there is a lot of money going into attending school, such as gas, rent and other priorities. Even food is expensive and when you spend all day on campus without a meal plan since you need to figure out how to eat and maintain your health. People need help and it would be nice to have more of that help.     

I am a senior at BMCC and I am majoring in Business Management. I am planning on continuing my education at a four year college to get my bachelor’s degree. I live with my parents, but they can’t afford to pay for my college expenses. So I have to take out loans in order to pay for my education. I take out subsidized loans through FASFA. It covers all of my school expenses but it doesn’t cover my textbooks, transportation, or food. Also, I have to help support my family, so I have to work two jobs to afford other expenses. This makes it difficult for me to concentrate on my education. In order to graduate I needed to take a certain class that wasn’t offered my last semester. This forced me to take out more loans because I had to go to school for an extra semester. I am really worried about paying these loans back in the future. I wish they would make college free for everyone, so I wouldn’t have to be so overwhelmed about paying for my education.