Financial Literacy: A Student’s Perspective

On Thursday, April 23, math students at Nash Community College had the opportunity to present projects demonstrating their interpretation of what it means to be financially literate; being knowledgeable about how money works in the world, be it management, investments or philanthropic. In 30 minutes sessions, students took part in a floating showcase and discussion about how they have used their skills to complete a real life application financial literacy lab in math class. The Financial Literacy Fair took place in the Science and Technology Building on the College’s campus from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Faculty, staff, students and members of the surrounding community were invited to attend.

Kaye Narron, NCC Nursing Assistant student, was one of the Fair participants volunteering to present a lab she completed modeling a real life scenario of a college student’s expenses. The lab detailed the career, salary and life expenses of a fictitious college student, Calvin. Narron calculated Calvin’s monthly costs and taxes, as well as performed an analysis of how to increase monies allocated for saving. “Being financially literate is the ability to compare your income and assets against your obligations and liabilities; preparing a budget in which you do not live outside your means, ” stated Narron, who greatly enjoyed taking part in the Fair and sharing her finance lab with others.

For those who were unable to attend the event and expand their knowledge of financial literacy, Narron advises that everyone, no matter their age, should sit down and correlate income with bills. “See where you can make cuts to set aside money for a rainy day.”