For most of the time that I've been in grad school I've thought of my lack of financial security as being my fault or the predictable outcome of my own non-lucrative choice in career. It's been a source of personal discomfort to me. Luckily, for a lot of this journey my partner was able to help support or curb this situation with his income, which removed the need for me to seek additional employment outside of TAing. But still, in the few months that I needed him to cover all of our rent, or when I couldn't afford to contribute equally to plans he wanted to make, I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment.
He died suddenly and, in addition to grieving him, I also had to deal with a new financial landscape and heightened embarrassment at my financial situation . My rent burden in university subsidized housing doubled to 79%. I whittled through my meagre savings trying to stay in the last home my partner and I shared in a little over a year. Then my source of funding on campus changed, and there was no way I could continue on living anywhere in Santa Barbara. So I moved home with my parents, who had to support me for the months between my summer and fall paychecks. I was depressed and irritable and felt like I had made all of the wrong choices.
COLA matters to me because it will ensure that future graduate students enjoy this kind of material security, providing conditions that will in turn alleviate some of the mental and emotional pressures built into grad school.
COLA matters to me because a graduate student's economic security should not be predicated on their being in a relationship or taking up additional work. And university-subsidized housing, our most affordable housing option, should be affordable such that a change in life circumstance doesn't force us to seek housing elsewhere. COLA matters to me because it will ensure that future graduate students enjoy this kind of material security, providing conditions that will in turn alleviate some of the mental and emotional pressures built into grad school.
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