2009-10-14
More than 200 first-year students at the University of Rio Grande got a taste of the real world during a special event sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter on campus.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8, the SIFE students held the “Welcome to the Real World,” program for all of the first-year students. During the event, students were able to learn more about potential salaries for different careers, living expenses and budgeting.
Chelsea Lemley, a freshman from Gallipolis who is majoring in fine arts, said the program was a good learning experience for her. She gained a better understanding of budgeting and some of the expenses she will be faced with when she graduates and enters the workforce.
Kia Wright, a freshman from Pt. Pleasant, W.Va., who is also majoring in fine arts, added that she also thought the program was a good way to help students learn more about the salaries in different job markets, and learn about budgeting.
Jordan McIntyre, a sophomore from Dowagiac, Michigan, is majoring in computer science information technology and business management, and is a member of the SIFE team. He worked at Welcome to the Real World event, and explained that many students don’t know much about rent, utilities, grocery expenses and other expenses they will be faced with when they graduate. The program gave them the chance to learn more about these expenses while they are on campus, and helped them to plan for life after graduation.
The program, which was held in the Davis University Center, featured several different stations students visited to learn about salaries and the expenses they will be faced with.
Carol Smith, director of the SIFE program at Rio Grande, said that the first-year students all filled out surveys while they were at the Welcome to the Real World event, and the surveys helped them learn about the expenses they will face. Questions such as “How much money would you like to save each month?” and “What vehicle would you like to drive?” were posed to the students, along with questions about the types of food they want to purchase, the types of entertainment they want to pay for and the types of homes they want to live in.
These surveys helped the students learn more about the expenses for these different choices, Smith said. The students were then able to learn about expenses they may not have expected such as taxes, clothing, furniture, health and grooming, insurance, medical/dental, student loans, car loans and transportation. The students were also able to visit the “Take A Chance” station where they found unexpected expenses or extra income for their budgets.
The whole idea was to introduce the students to financial matters that they will be facing when they graduate and are working, and it proved to be a valuable exercise for the students.
The SIFE students are dedicated to promoting economic education in the region, so the project was also a perfect fit for the type of work the chapter does on campus and in the community.
For more information on the SIFE team and the Welcome to the Real World program, call Smith at 1-800-282-7201.
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