Budgeting. It is a scary word and something that students do not think about enough until it is senior year, close to entering “the real world” but NOW is a good time to start being smart with money. Since some of you couldn’t make it to the workshop, I will be your CP&R Correspondent. Here is a recap of what I learned.

During the workshop, our facilitator (Madeline (Maddie) Ripley ‘14) hit a couple different objectives

• Creating a Sample Monthly Budget
• Examine the Benefits of Saving, Investments, and Planning for Emergencies
• Identifying short- and long-term money goals
• Understanding how compound interest contributes to building long-term wealth
• Developing a conscientious spending plan

Whew… it seems like a lot, but she broke it down and it was a great overview. 

1. Create a monthly budget
   1. 20-30-50 Ratio
      1. With this ratio, the numbers stand for where a percent of your monthly earnings will be used for over the course of the month.
         1. 20% goes into savings/debt
         2. 30% goes into housing expenses
         3. 50% is spending money
      2. The percentages do not have to be 20-30-50, so this is just a starting point that as long as you adjust each area accordingly you will be fine.
      3. Once we are out of college, looking at our monthly earnings we will have to remember to subtract out taxes. At the moment, we can just take approximately what we make during a month instead of going from an annual salary.
         
2. The Differences between Saving, Investments, and Emergencies
   1. There are not enough women starting to save for retirement or take a high risk to achieve a good return
   2. First, an individual must identify their short and long-term goals
      1. Start with your priorities
      2. Develop a timeline (1 year, 3, 5, 7, 10)
      3. Develop an action plan to get to your goals
      4. Find an accountability partner because with someone keeping you on track you’re more likely to stay on your goals
3. Compound Interest
   1. The difference between putting money in a money market account and in Global Equities is important to understand
   2. Basically, the more you start saving in accounts that have high compound interest, the more money you will get in the long run.
      
4. Conscientious Spending
   1. Use one of the pre-built budget excel sheets or make your own to plan out your mouthly or annual spending.
   2. Use Apps to help you save or budget:
      1. YNAB, LearnVest, Pocket Guard, Quicken, Mint, Prism, Rize, Cleo

5. Conclusion and other useful tidbits
   1. Based on your current financial situation, develop:
      1. A cash flow statement
      2. A net worth statement
      3. A personal budget
   2.  Open a Roth IRA account as soon as possible
      1. You can invest that money later on and withdraw the money in that account later tax-free

If anyone has any questions about what I learned in this workshop, just email me. It is very important to start being smart with the money you make now and use it for things that truly matter to you. Do not feel like because you are saving, you cannot go out an have fun that is not what this means. It just means to save for the things you want and save for things that could possibly happen in the future (good or bad).

Summer has come and gone.

Since we’ve been back, you have probably heard about everyone’s amazing adventures traveling the global or at their internships. I applaud all of those who were able to do both of those things and more, however, I want to speak to those who feel like they are falling behind or did not do what they were expected to do with their summer.

I am currently a Junior, and as I reflect, realize that I felt pressure to take summer courses or have an internship. In response to that pressure, I attempted to sign up for many summer courses, lined up an internship in Pasadena, and I had received the announcement that I was going to be one of the SOAR coordinators last summer. As an individual, who despises free time because I hate being stagnant I thought this was a good thing…

But slowly, it became clear that my brilliant summer plans were too difficult to pull together. The courses I wanted to take were not going to be offered for this summer term, my Pasadena internship wanted me in office full time, and I needed to work at least 4 hours a day here at Scripps in my SOAR  coordinator role. It was overwhelming and very upsetting that I was not going to have the chance to do all the things I wanted to do. At the end of the day, I had to make some decisions, I choose to work at Scripps and plan the orientation trips for the incoming class of new students (which I hope worked out and everyone had fun!)

At the beginning of summer, I was disappointed that my internship and my summer courses did not work out. For weeks, I complained about only working 4 hours and not feeling productive because I could be doing more. Looking back, I can tell you I am so glad that everything else in my summer did not work out. Instead of always working and running from place to place; I was given the chance to relax.

….Relax…

Such a funny concept while you are a college student. Instead of running around from 9am until 11pm like I do during the year. I work from 10am to 2pm and after I hung out with my friends to watch anime. Everything was chill and nothing was expected of me. During the summer, I learned that stopping or taking a break does not equal failing.

As a first-gen student of color, during moments of silence, there is an uneasy feeling for me because I think that I am not doing enough to propel myself forward. This past summer, I learned that taking it easy and having space in my schedule is not a bad thing. Times to recharge are necessary, and even deserved. A challenge for me, that I will in turn propose to all of you, is: take time for yourself, even schedule free time or just be spontaneous and worry about it later. Experiment and see what happens. You might even enjoy it.

I believe in all of you. So let’s take a breath in and let it out.

Summer is quickly approaching.

As we enter the 3 months away from classes, each student is trying to figure out what they are going to do next. Since you are away from school, how do you keep the momentum of developing your career?

This summer, I intend to be in Claremont planning the SOAR trips for the incoming class of 2022.  I want to learn as much as I can about planning large events while giving back to the Scripps community. Pursuing any opportunity that you feel good about is something worth doing. As students, we learn from every job and internship we get during our undergraduate years to help us shape whatever we want to do in the future.

I do need to make sure I finish my double major, so I am looking for courses to take this summer at nearby colleges. Undergrad is all about learning about yourself and I will through my major, but I want the opportunity to take interesting elective courses. Taking summer courses is a great way to free up some time during the school year and give yourself the chance to do more with the months we are on campus.

Finally, one of my professors has put me in contact with people at theaters in Pasadena. Pasadena is very close to Claremont, so on my time off from planning SOAR trips I can drive down there and learn a little bit about theater outside the college environment. The entertainment industry is very much reliant on connections, so more emphasis on the “who you know” rather than the “what you know.” I have been working on my networking skills, since coming back from the CP&R trek this spring break. I want to work on emailing individuals who have positions that intrigue me.

I forget how many careers are out there that do not fit under the classics like doctor or lawyer. Another important tool is the internet. I google everything that even slightly interests me because everything helps you learn more about yourself and what you want to do.

Back in January, I filled out an application for one of the Beyond The Elms Blogger positions.

But Why?

I decided to apply for the blogger position because I wanted to be involved in the CP&R office. In addition, this last semester has been a whirlwind since I was coming up with what I wanted to major in. I saw this as an opportunity to work on media skills and getting thoughts onto paper in an interesting way. It is a small time commitment every week and it is another deadline, but I did want to put myself out there. When I first applied, I was on the 3-2 track to be an Engineering major with some kind of theatre major tacked on. After I realized that I did not want to do that anymore, I was slightly confused in my path. Close to the end of last semester, I was zoning in on an Organizational Studies and Theatre double major, which is perfect for me right now. I thought it would be fun to write about my experience and get a glimpse of the blogger life.

What Have I Learned?

Now in this position for a semester, I have learned so much. This position has required me to actively think about my career, since I want to make it compelling for my weekly posts. I have learned various tactics to make my writing interesting and think that this would be such an interesting thing to continue to do. For the longest time, I wanted to be a blogger and never knew what to do first. I would have to market myself, but just writing is the first step for all of that. In addition, employers find the position interesting and have asked about it when I went to interviews. It is a skill that is definitely marketable for the job market. Finally, when we get the weekly email about when our posts will be live from Rachael Acello, we hear about the opportunities happening at the office. It is nice knowing each week what is happening at the career office.

Should You?

I think it is something that everyone should look into because the time commitment is reasonable, it holds you accountable to stay on top of your own career development and it’s nice having connections to  Career Planning &Resources staff. . If you are interested, then I urge you to apply when applications roll around. 

I never imagined Sophomore year to be this stressful.

Life has always been full of rough times and the good times just barely covered up the hurt. Despite all of that, I have made it through above and beyond what I thought I was capable of doing. At least with school, other students tell you what years will suck the most that have the most work or when you have to apply for various opportunities.

Sophomore year is a beast and do not let anyone tell you differently.

Maybe it was not just all of the sophomore activities, but everything coming to a head.

When you are asked to declare your major and proceed to list every class, but have to find course codes for electives you are not sure will be offered again. It brings your attention to all of the work that is ahead of you and what you are behind on.

The upside to this, I have never been more excited about my major. I declared a double major in Organizational Studies with a concentration in Arts Management and Theatre with a minor in Africana Studies. Late night talks with friends and my bosses led me to learn about my strengths and my passions. Opportunities that I do not think I could have gotten anywhere else.

The daunting summer. Looming over your head reminding you of the various decisions that you have to make to determine your entire summer.

I am lucky and have multiple opportunities that I am heavily considering. However, it is difficult not being super excited after an interview for one of the opportunities. My top 2 choices deliver very different experiences that would both be transformative. It the stress of not knowing what the “right” decision is.

Sophomore year is not stressful like senior year with applying for job opportunities or thesis. It is it’s own ball of stress that begins to force you to figure out your path. It produces a majority of the class frantic to make deadlines just to take a classic major declaration picture in front of Dennison like everyone else.

On top of all that, a shout-out to student leaders, student workers, and super-involved students. It is a running joke with everyone I know that I am constantly running around and that I do not know free time. It’s true. I like being busy, involved, and creating things. In my mind, opportunities are once-in-a-lifetime type things, which is DEFINITELY not true. The students mentioned are thriving in resume/skills, yet are exhausted juggling everything and class.

Mentally it all takes a toll. I am struggling to trust myself and make the best decisions for me without letting what I am “supposed” to do influence every action. So these next few words are for those in the Class of 2020 and for those coming after us.

You are not defined by your major (unless you’re pre-med or an engineering, these words may not be for you), I am not sure how many times I have mentioned this, but I think it’s important. Try to do the things that make you feel good. If you have a bad feeling about something, then really dig into why it makes you feel that way. Use this time to explore all the avenues of yourself and do not limit yourself to what you think you can do or what people tell you to do. We will get through this sophomore year.