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A 22-year-old student has managed to blow $90,000 in three years and is heading into her final year of university without a penny.
Kim, whose second name is unknown, has been in touch with a radio show in Atlanta four times now to regale astounded readers with her woes after she spent the entirety of the savings her grandparents had put together to fund her college education.
"Years ago my grandparents set up a college fund for me, which was amazing," she began. "[But] I haven’t been very good with my budget for school. The first payment for my senior year just arrived, and I don’t have the money, basically."
An extended trip to Europe and a large amount of designer clothing were the main culprits in bankrupting Kim, who seems to have little to no regard for the value of money. Kim admitted "maybe I should have not done that" but added that she "figured the trip to Europe was part of my education".
When the idea of getting a job was suggested by The Bert Show's co-hosts, Kim responded "that's embarrassing," a comment that resounded particularly with Kristin Klingshirn, one of the show's hosts who worked three jobs to pay for her college tuition. Kristin asked Kim: "Do you know what a major part of growing up is? It's taking responsibility and accountability, you need to come clean to your parents, and you need to borrow the money from them and pay every penny back."
However Kim's parents have refused her plea to fund her fourth year of study. Her reaction was even more surprising, claiming that when her parents said they no longer have the money available they "lied" as her dad "has been saving money for retirement for like a million years".
All three hosts of the radio show were shocked to find out exactly how clueless Kim is about the real world as she became angry at her parents for not agreeing to supply more money outright.
"My dad was so - just a little bit of a jerk about it" she said. "He just sort of chuckled, like I'm so stupid or something." She even attempted to blame them, adding: "Maybe they should have taught me to budget a little more... They never sat me down and had a real serious talk about it."
Her $10,000 bill for her first semester remains unpaid, soon to be followed by a second in January. She described how she "knew that the bill was coming, but avoided it", adding that she had already applied for scholarships from her college but was rejected.
The Bert Show
The hosts at The Bert Show then suggested that Kim actually take out a loan from the bank but found she was shocked at the idea of "actually goinginside a bank". However she managed to take this dreaded step and fill out some forms, "wrote a lot" and was told her parents must co-sign for the loan (which they agreed to do as long as she finds a job) and she would have to begin to pay it back immediately.
Despite commenting "my job is to be a student right now, I never planned to work through college" and in regards to her parents, says: "I hope they know that working could have a serious effect on my grades and on me as a person", Kim is actually now job hunting but so far without success as she has "never worked before".
It's possible that she has finally begun to change her tune following comments from people calling in on her radio segments to express their disgust. The show received a lot of responses, mostly from former students who worked to pay for their years at university and were outraged by her perspective.
"Working while in college is embarrassing? I had jobs throughout college and still had to pawn s*** to pay for books. This person sucks" were the comments from one member of the public. Others were concerned that Kim is a bad representative for the student population, many of whom take out loans and according to a survey by student loans companies, three quarters of which work part-time while studying.
Josh, a caller who worked through college and still required $30,000 of loans, said: "This girl needs to get over herself and get a freaking job" and 45 year old Michelle added "I would like to tell this spoiled brat to grow up and get a job."
When her situation was publicised on Reddit, comments were very similar, including "This made me seriously angry. I worked 50 plus hours a week at two s***ty jobs to pay my way through school" and "I learned more about life working those two jobs than I did in college. I learned how hard it is to make it on minimum wage jobs. I learned to have respect for people working s***ty jobs."
There were, on the other hand, some people who came to Kim's defense, pointing out the rising cost of both tuition and living. It was calculated that her tuition over the entire time she will have been studying, is $80,000. This would allow $10,000 for living costs however The College Board have estimated housing, transport and other contributors to range between $11,660 to $17,410 for the nine-month academic year.