Katie Jacobs talked to five Carleton students about how they pay their expenses in entrepreneurial ways.
Are you prepared to pay off your student debt, no matter the cost?
According to the Canadian University Survey Consortium’s (CUSC) 2012 study, 33 per cent of Canadian university students graduate with more than $20,000 in debt. Many university students struggle to pay for their education, and more than 50 per cent of university graduates report some debt.
A few Carleton students have found strange and unique ways to pay off their student debt.
. . . And a Haircut, Two Bits!
“I first decided to cut my own hair when I was displeased with the haircuts that I received . . . So I decided to invest in some clippers myself,” said Martin Letourneau, a third-year Carleton civil engineering student.
Letourneau began to make money by charging his roommates cheap prices for haircuts.
“I cut hair in the basement of my townhouse. Nobody lives down there in the storage place, so we decided to make it into a barber shop. My roommates’ friends and my friends started coming over to get their hair cut and now I cut about 10 times a month,” Letourneau said.
Since Letourneau started his own business three years ago, he has not been to a barber shop. He discovered he could save up to $8,354 in 40 years by cutting his own hair.
“I would recommend to students with difficulty with paying for school to start a small business like hair cutting or online marketing. There are many different options out there that offer flexible hours—which students need—and cash flow which always makes the soul feel better,” Letourneau said.
Domestic Pet Sitter
Megan Dern, a first-year Carleton journalism student, often takes care of her neighbour’s pets and watches over their home while they’re away.
“My direct neighbours on my right side, I actually babysat their kids for the past nine years . . . And when they would go on vacation to Florida or the Dominican, I would look after the cat too and then the house,” Dern said.
“I could pop in, hang out, have a cup of tea, watch the cat, because obviously the animals need company when the family is gone,” Dern said.
Dern put all of the money she earned directly into her savings for university.
“I get possession of the house I’ll be using for the next couple of years on March 1 . . . So I’ll be paying for the heat and hydro,” Dern said.
If you want to know how to start this kind of job, Dern said to begin by building strong relationships.
“Trust comes first, having to know the person and building a foundation for a relationship can [let] you have this opportunity,” Dern concluded.
Applying Tech Skills
“In high school, I was just good at video, and I wanted to get into film,” said Israel Tshibangu Mbouyi, a first-year Carleton journalism student.
Using his computer technology skills, Mbouyi made three wedding films in 2015 to earn money for equipment needed in school.
“My [communication] tech prof was like, ‘You are going to film my daughter’s wedding . . . I’m going to pay you $500.’ It was really successful, all of them loved it,” Mbouyi said.
He said he is in the process of filming three more wedding videos in 2016.
“The money went [towards] my school, and then also [towards] my tools that help me to even do the work . . . and then I have to pay for the apartment that I found,” Mbouyi said. “I love film—I didn’t start it for the money.”
Special Scholarships
According to the CUSC survey, 28 per cent of students use scholarships and awards to pay off their student debt. Rebecca Jackson, a first-year Carleton psychology student, said she received a scholarship from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
“I had to speak to a group of people, a bunch of other blind people, about my university experience . . . It was kind of cool cause I could be a mentor to them,” Jackson said.
She also applied for other communication scholarships by writing about what she uses technology for, as a person with a visual impairment. For example, Jackson uses the VoiceOver program on her iPhone that reads the text on the screen out loud.
“They were asking me a bunch of questions like how I felt about Braille . . . and technology and who to recommend to talk to about technology related things,” Jackson said.
The money from these scholarships paid for Jackson’s university tuition.
“You can get so many scholarships as someone with a disability and someone who’s blind. There are so many scholarships out there, just go for it,” Jackson said.
Travelling to Work
Laraib Malik, a first-year Carleton law student, said she travels four hours to and from her job as a food and product demonstrator at Costco in order to pay her tuition.
Malik said she works twice a week and the amount of time to get there has not made her career experience negative.
“I enjoy the job because my co-workers are amazing to work with, and the job itself is great because I get to meet new customers every day and demonstrate enjoyable products,” Malik said.
“I decided to take the job given the fact that it was a good way to obtain experience and the pay was very good,” Malik said. “I still work at this job despite the commute given the fact that I have to pay tuition and finding a job itself is not easy to obtain . . . Working at Costco has been very helpful in paying my student expenses.”
