Addy Pittenger, Arts & Life Editor Emeritus–
As I grind out these last couple weeks on the Hill, I thought it would be great to use this platform to give a proper thank you to the Denison community and say I could not have done it without you. I actually get to graduate from Denison on time and walk across that stage on May 11 after a year of fighting to come back to campus.
For those of you who might not know me, I was the one who sent out that petition last semester, asking for support in my journey to return back to Denison, as well as the person who started the GoFundMe to help me pay off that fall semester. Long story short, I struggled immensely to afford my tuition at Denison. With personal stuff going on back at home in the financial realm, being raised by a single mother and not getting the adequate aid needed to help cover my tuition, paying my tuition became a problem, leaving my graduation in May of 2024 uncertain. Back in the fall of 2022 during my junior year here, I was not able to return for the spring semester because I did not have my tuition for the fall semester paid off.
This changed the future of my Denison career. I did not know when I would be able to return to Denison, let alone pay off those remaining semesters. I had to give up my study abroad semester (which was required for my major, also putting my graduation requirements in jeopardy), and figure out a way to return back to campus. At one point, I considered transferring to another college, but by not having my transcript, this idea became impossible as well. So my choices were to transfer to another university eventually after paying the remaining tuition for Denison, to transfer to Columbus State Community College, or to work as a server and pay off the fall semester of 2022 to return for the fall semester of 2023. Needless to say, I chose to pay for fall 2022 and return, and that decision was due to the love I have for this school and the people here.
This was not an easy task, and I thought the deadline to come up with roughly $13,000 was impossible. Yet, with the constant support from faculty, friends, and peers, you all helped me stay motivated to come back to Denison. I knew I did not want to be away from this school and my friends, so I picked up double shifts almost everyday, saved up every penny, and finally was able to return in fall 2023.
The net barrier was to pay fall 2023, and after several attempts to correct financial information on my family’s end, we were still not able to meet the needs to pay for the rest of the semester.
So when I asked for help from the Denison community, you all answered.
I was overwhelmed with all of the support, all of the donations and all of the encouragement you all gave me. The unexpected happened: I met the GoFundMe goal of $13,000.
There are no words to describe the gratitude and thankfulness I have towards everyone who made a donation. What you all did- the sharing, the donating- had to have been the most heartwarming feeling I have ever felt. I could have not done it without you all.
Finally, as spring of 2024 comes around, and after a long battle with FAFSA and special circumstance forms, I was finally able to receive the aid I needed in order to have my final semester just barely paid off.
I am telling you this story because it is an example of the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. If it was not for the people who I met here, the friends I have made, and the faculty I have come to know, I would not be graduating in less than 30 days. Asking for help is not easy, but at the end of the day, people care about you, and they want you to succeed, and I could not have done anything without our community’s support.
I realize that many students go through similar situations not only at Denison, but throughout the world, and that is a problem in itself that I wish to emphasize. No student deserves to go through any financial trouble during their time attending college, especially when they are almost at the finish line. But the point is to recognize that if an institution cannot help you, friends and peers can.
I leave with this advice: ask for help in any circumstance you might need it, and the community will support in any way that they can. Graduating from Denison will be one of my biggest accomplishments, both in my academic career and personal life so I urge you to ask for help when you need it. It will all pay off at some point, and it is the greatest feeling when it does.
Addy Pittenger ‘24 is an international studies major from Columbus.