Navigating University Life on a Tight Budget: A Personal Reflection

Full Name: Mohamad Aziq bin Mohamad Derus (2325705)

My Experience

University is an exciting place but also a little bit scary for me. Like so many students, I was looking forward to the freedom and opportunities it would bring. But, due to my family income, even in the basic things in life such as food. This challenge shaped my experience in ways that I did not anticipate.

            First of all, before starting university, I imagined about myself thriving in a new environment. I thought that managing my daily meals would be simple, expecting to find affordable options on campus or nearby. However, I was that my family's financial situation meant I would need to be careful with my spending. Furthermore, what I hadn't anticipated was how difficult this would become, especially when some other expenses arose.

Next, in actual sense, living on a tight budget proved to be much harder than I had anticipated. There are days when I have gone without food or had to survive on instant noodles because it is cheap for me to afford it. Balancing classes, assignments, and a limited budget often left me feeling stressed and fatigued. 

So, I had to cope with it by developing strategies to stretch my resources. I started with buying ingredients like a board of eggs and studying simple recipes that could be stretched for a few meals like scramble egg. I also discovered community resources, like the campus food bank, which provided essential support during particularly tough times as I had experienced during Ramadhan, I tend to go to Musholla of Mahallah Zaid Harithah or another nearby mosque to take free meals for Iftar. Despite such efforts, there are times when I feel isolated by watching my friends enjoy restaurant meals while I silently eating my food.

This experience also highlighted the importance of sustainable practices. Wasting food was not an option, so I became more mindful about portion sizes and preserving leftovers. That was indeed quite a tough period, but it teaches me a valuable lesson about resourcefulness and resilience.

All in all, I am very thankful for the learning experience. I understood how important good nutrition is for both physical and mental health. It also helped me understand food insecurity better and motivated me to helps programs that give resources to low-income students. If I were in that situation again, I would seek help earlier and try to argue for more awareness of available resources. My journey through university on a tight budget was not easy, but it taught me to preserve and cherish the support systems around me.

In conclusion, my experience going through university life with low income really has made me to be more resilient and empathic individual. It has highlighted how imperative it would be to deal with hunger problems in educational institution and how helpful community support could be overcoming life's challenges.