Attending college has always been a dream of mine. Ever since I was little, I would spend countless hours wondering what my senior year and the years to follow would consist of. I always assumed I wouldn’t have to worry about money or how I am going to pay for college. To be quite honest, I never even thought about how much college would cost me up until a few years ago.

Now, I’m not going to lie, college is very expensive. There is a fee for everything. From applying, to requesting a dorm room early, it looks like these universities are after my money instead of helping me get a great education.

I have been lucky enough that my parents have provided me with the funds to apply to the schools I would like to attend or pay for the ACT I have taken countless times in order to improve my chances at a scholarship, but I can’t rely on them forever. There will come a time where I will have to find a way to pay for the things that I want.

I am now seven months from being a college student and not a day goes by that I don’t worry about how I am going to pay for the education I want to receive.

There are, of course, scholarships that I have applied for. I hope that I will receive some scholarships, as I have spent much of my time striving for the best test scores and grades I can get, but there is bound to be someone who is going to have a better application than myself.  So, until February I will have the constant fear that when the applicants are chosen, I will receive few and will be faced with the reality that I won’t get to go to my dream college.

Once the scholarship information comes in, that is when the real worrying begins. That is when I have to find the rest of the money to get me to college. I hope I will not have to take out many student loans, as they have quite a high interest rate right now and I am going into a profession that doesn’t pay much to adults who are fresh out of college.

I never thought I would be worried about my financial future, but here I am, constantly thinking about how I will have to pay for everything. I want the best education I can possibly get, but will I be able to afford it? That question remains unanswered.