And the secret ingredient is...

"SOYLENT GREENU"

HAPPY MURRICA

The Cost of Growing Up

After receiving my first couple of paychecks, my dad decided it was time for me to open up a bank account. After checking out BoA, Wells Fargo, and Chase, we settled on the latter because they didn't charge a monthly fee as long as you remain a student with at least $500 in the bank. So it was free banking basically, and it felt pretty good when the brand-spanking-new debit card arrived in the mail. This was my money, and the realm of online shopping was finally at my disposal! No longer would gift purchasing for family members be a pain- a quick order online and all previous, stealthy ways of acquiring presents would be abandoned. Going out with friends will also be less embarrassing, as it has always been a terrible habit of mine to carry insufficient cash on hand (speaking of which, I'm pretty sure I still owe Tanya a dollar... or something). Best of all, I didn't need to rely on Eric's generosity and shady trades any more for buying PC games (that is, un-illegally-feasible multiplayer games. shhh).

My first purchase was a mini orchid for my former vln teacher's birthday. The next one was a slightly heftier purchase for Eric's birthday as well. Each succeeding order after that became increasingly painful though, as frequent monitoring of my balance and transfer histories caused my stinginess levels to rise, and rise. What was once the attitude of "just shut up and take my money, DICE" became "oh man, I could really use that $50 in the future for like, food, when I'm homeless." Maybe it's not practical to look so far into the future, but considering my dad isn't going to pay jack shit for my collegiate life (okay, insurance and phone bills will be covered) it's probably best to buckle down now rather than later.

Having a bank account has certainly taught me to not only be more frugal, but to value money. Forget what I've said about money earlier, because it does matter much more than any optimist would like to admit. It is shaping my next big decision- college- because attending some elite conservatory in NYC will probably result in a very debt-ridden kat with no job, while playing it safe and graduating with no job but- no debt! may ease matters from a long-term prospective. Getting a summer job is an option for me to start saving up now, but much to my disappointment, there's no time to do so. The best alternative at the moment is to work on presenting myself as a a totally viable candidate for scholarships by getting my repertoire together, and entering as many competitions as possible. My parents always remind me that the purpose of competing is to expand one's performance experience and to gain exposure, not win. It hurts to confess this, but I'm only in it to win- for the money.