My name is Mudabrah Amber and I’m a student at Edmonds Community College. I moved here in 2016 from Pakistan, and alongside school, I’m also an artist. My goal is to get a four-year degree in business management. Ideally, I want to work in digital marketing or design, something that brings together my interest in business and creativity.
I chose Edmonds CC mostly because of the cost. Going straight to a four-year university right out of high school wasn’t really an option because my family couldn’t afford it. Plus, Edmonds is closer to us, and I was already familiar with it because of the Running Start program. So, it just made sense for me to stick with it rather than going to a different community college.
College is not affordable right now. Especially in this economy, where most students, including myself, are working part-time jobs that pay around $17 or $18 an hour. That’s just not enough when you add in the cost of tuition, housing, and other expenses. And then there are people who are dealing with things like foster care or homelessness, which makes it even harder. If we want education to be more universal and accessible, we can’t expect people to pay thousands of dollars every quarter while also keeping up with the rising cost of living. Especially in this economy where everything is so expensive and yet the minimum wage is not raising any higher.
When I first came to America, higher education was such a big deal and everyone was saying you have to be educated. But when I came here, the system is making it as hard as possible for students to actually get an education based on the prices. It is literally more than 10 times what I make monthly. On top of that, student loan interest rates are crazy and I don’t want to go into debt my whole life. It is odd to hear we value higher education so much and then there is no actual support and it’s not accessible. I think it is holding us back collectively from achieving the community we desire, an educated community that is open to one another.
Making the first two years of college free would really help, not just me but a lot of people. Right now, even entry-level jobs are starting to require some level of education beyond high school. If we could graduate with at least an associate’s degree, it’d open up way more opportunities. Plus, college is more than just about getting a job—it really helps with personal growth, and that’s good for the community as a whole.
Financial barriers are real, though. Right now, my family’s doing okay, but we’re not sure how we’ll manage rent in the next six months. We started a new business, and while that’s exciting, it’s also unpredictable. I’m already working two part-time jobs just to plan ahead for when I transfer to a university, but it’s tough to balance that with school. It’s hard to focus on education when you’re always worried about money.
Mudabrah Amber, Lynnwood