From the Editor’s Desk | Woes of financial holds | The Triangle

From the Editor’s Desk | Woes of financial holds

On Feb. 5, I was placed on a financial hold owing to some funny business with my billing which I don’t fully understand. I was told it would be cleared up by “tomorrow.” As I write this (Feb. 9) I’m still on financial hold, and I’m finding it fascinating just discovering all the things you can’t do.

For instance, I can’t look at my B-round interview requests for co-op. This has left me feeling rude to potential employers trying to interview me, as I haven’t contacted them, owing to the fact that I don’t know who they are. Luckily they made the effort to contact me, so that saved me a few emails.

Should my financial hold continue, I will be unable to take a midterm later this week. I’m not feeling very good about my chances on it anyway, so frankly it’s more of a relief than anything, but if I were a more ambitious student this might prove to be a bigger problem. I’ve also been informed that I can’t “continue my education” so I’ve taken this as a nice excuse to cut back on my homework schedule. I don’t like to take my work home with me anyway.

Overall I think my experience on financial hold has been a significant improvement over normal academic life, but I’ve realized there’s something insidious about it: if you have a financial hold, you can’t get a transcript.

If I were in a serious financial pickle, and really needed to take out additional loans, this would be a problem. To get student loans, the lender will usually want to know your GPA, which naturally requires a transcript, which you can’t get because you’re on financial hold.

I feel that, as a country, we’ve established that it’s our inalienable right as students and as clueless millennials to take out ludicrous amounts of non-dischargeable student loans to pay for questionably-practical degrees before we boomerang home and live in our parents’ basements and work at Starbucks, crippled for life by mandatory wage garnishments even after our fourth personal bankruptcy. With Drexel University’s financial hold reasoning, students in dire need of unreasonable amounts of cash don’t even have that option.

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To help you cope with your irreconcilable problems this Valentine’s Day, whether financial or relationship-related, the Whiskey Sour:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces of Bourbon whiskey (It doesn’t have to be fancy for this one; Jim Beam will do.)

3 ounces fresh lemon juice (About two lemons)

1/2 ounces of gomme syrup, or, failing that, simple syrup

Directions:

Shake with ice, strain into an old-fashioned glass. Many recommend a lemon slice as garnish but most of the drink is already lemon, so what’s the point? A maraschino cherry is probably a better choice. Serve straight up or on the rocks. Drink one whenever opening the Billing and Financial Aid tab on DrexelOne.

Justin Roczniak is the Editor-in-Chief at The Triangle. He can be contacted at [email protected].