INTRODUCTION

This project is based upon the strange grouping which emanates among the
students while they are in their study phase. The grouping which my project
deals with is the one which emerges because of there being a difference
between the financial statuses of the students as they belong to different
families. Before writing for this project, I read many surveys on the internet
regarding the issue, which suggest that more than half of the college students
have to worry about the money or finances been provided to them by their
parents, at some stage or the other, which I thought to be a contemplatable
issue, as I myself belong to a middle class family and I have started my first
year at college.

Many a times, I myself have felt the need to check whether my pocket can
support me while going for an outing, or to decide for the plan of a movie, or
for going out for a party with my friends. Although I am sure that I have been
given enough money to spend on such occasions, still I have to have a strange
worry in my mind regarding the money provide to me. At the same time I have
friends who do not worry a bit about however much they are spending at some
time at a particular occasion. This strange difference just struck me a little
before preparing the sociology project, and as our mentor had asked to pick any
topic for the project which strikes us, I chose this difference and its ambit to be
my topic, which might in every possibility, be wholly insignificant for some
people, who just don’t care about or actually don’t need to care about such petty
issues.

1
HOW I MADE THE PROJECT

I simply observed various groups of friends in our college, in fact mine too and
I also tried to get others’ point of view regarding this. The methodology of
research will be thus, non-doctrinal.

SOME COMMON OBSERVATIONS

These were some of my observations regarding the topic I chose. I have not
presented my personal opinions on this issue.
1) I have seen some groups partying a lot, almost every other day, while
there are some, who are rarely seen so. The reason might be the
disinterest of the latter sort of groups, but at the same time, it clarifies the
fact that one can party a lot only if one has enough money in one’s
pocket, which they need not worry about how and how much to spend.
This whole thing might seem to be useless but is anyway considerable, as
the latter group mentioned above, may, after some time, feel
underconfident or underprivileged, as in student or college life, we have a
thing called peer pressure which really affects us a lot, since we all stand
on the same platform, especially if we enter a college after clearing the
same examination, and if some have the right to enjoy themselves, others
start questioning themselves why they don’t.

2) I have observed some students who have an appreciable relationship with

intoxicants, popularly alcohol and smoking. This simply implies that
there are some of us who just don’t have to worry about how much
money they are spending or where it is getting spent, while at the same
time there are some others who have to give the account of every single
penny they spend to their caretakers. This also might create a feeling of
superiority and inferiority among students.

3) There are some students who do not have to worry about their fee being
paid by their parents, while there are some others who have a tinge of

2
 stress in their minds regarding how their parents have to submit their fee
for continuing their studies. Some can wander around without having any
such tension in their minds while some have a strange everlasting tension
or stress which has some sort of negative or deteriorating effect on the
mind and lives of the students of middle or lower class families.

4) The students who are not from well-off backgrounds were mostly seen by
me in or around library or engaged in some or the other productive work
as compared to the students from extremely wealthy families, who did not
have to worry much about their future or career, as compared to the
middle or lower class students who want to do something substantial for
themselves and their families. Obviously exceptions do exist, there are
some students who are both extremely affluent as well as extremely
dedicated towards their life goals, but then again, I would like to point out
that such affluent-dedicated cases are really rare. This probably implies
that the dedication level decreases with the increasing amount of money
owned by the families of students, and that probably is the reason why we
have plethora of examples in the toughest competitive examinations in
which students from the poorest section of the society shine at one of the
brightest places securing astonishing ranks.

5) While going through the online articles on the topic, I came to know that
college students might also suffer from something called financial stress,
which is a thing to worry, as at this point in our lives, we should not
worry about these things, as we have our parents who live and die to
support us, but if the students have to worry about these things at this
stage, it’s really disturbing to know that this material thing called money
can ruin lives in this way also, that it has already created a burden on the
parents of the students who study in college, and now the students also
have to worry about it. The stress is obvious to be created as the students
also witness peer pressure, due to which they start questioning their
supporters and their own abilities, which has a devastating effect on them
in the long run.

6) Some students might also feel underprivileged at the time of vacations or

holidays when some or many of their friends or groups are going to
various places to spend time on hill-stations or possibly on the tour of a

3
 desert area or wherever they want, while they themselves don’t have
enough money that could be spent on wandering around such wonderful
locations having fun, and so ultimately they have to go back to their
homes to spend those holidays or sometimes they don’t even go to the
homes in frustration, and stay back at the hostel itself.

7) Common differences such as having variety of clothes to wear, variety of

stuff given from home to eat etc. are prevalent and sometimes hit the
students from not so well-off backgrounds.

8) At the time of internships, some students also have to worry about the
place where they are going to intern, as the location etc. plays a role in
the expenses going to be spent in staying and living in a new place.

9) Some of us go to markets and malls for shopping on a regular basis while

some others just avoid the topic or run away from it, just because they
think that they are at a lower stage in their lives than their colleagues.

10) Most importantly, some value money while some don’t need to, as
they have so much of it that they have forgotten that money even carries
some value.

4
CONCLUSION
After researching and comparing the students belonging to different financial
backgrounds, I came to the conclusion that although there seems to be no
distinction between the students if observed by some, all of them are equal as
everybody has come to study in a university after clearing a tough entrance
exam, yet there is a tinge of difference if we go deep into the psychology of
students. In fact, the tinge does not actually remain a tinge, but becomes a
crevice after some time which goes on to hurt people in the long run. Students
don’t accept it easily or don’t show it that they face a little difference but the
reality is that they really do face there being a considerable difference between
each other, when it comes to the amount of money owned by them or their
family.

The effect of this slight difference on the psychology and minds of students
might not be visible prima facie, yet it exists if observed closely and it does
affect them badly to some extent at some time in their college life, as they feel
themselves to be less privileged than others being on the same platform as
others.

I did this research because I wanted to find out whether there is actually some
difference between the students from different backgrounds, or I only feel it to
be. But after my research, I came to know that almost all the students from
middle and especially the lower-middle class families do consider themselves
less than those from affluent families, while standing at exactly the same
platform and footing as the rich people. They might not show their frustration or
aggression towards anybody, but they do have it in their minds at some time or
the other in their college life. Hence I conclude my project by stating that
money does affect the students and their psyche with regard to the self-esteem
of the students while being in college, while the enjoyment is obviously
compromised by them.