Sullivan

Patrick Campbell is a sophomore at the University of Tampa. He is also an accounting major, which is the reason why he joined Beta Alpha Psi, the honorary accounting organization. This organization is very helpful in obtaining an internship.

He also did many other things to boost up his resume to try to get an internship. Along with being elected to the position of Vice President of Service, Pat has done leadership conferences and sponsored the creation of the Accounting Club here on campus.

The organzation and all the resume builders was still not enough for an internship. Companies just are not taken new employees because of the recession. Pat stated “people I have spoken to who have gotten internships in the past and are shocked that I didn’t get one because their resume wasn’t as good as mine.”

He even tried Craigslist.org but couldn’t tell which internships were real or fake. This is not the only way the recession is affecting him. Less experience he has the harder it will be for him to get a quality job when he graduates college in two years.

Since the school is raising housing prices for next semester, living off campus is the better option. He wanted a place that was cheaper then school so he looked at all different houses and apartments. He found an inexpensive apartment but it’s far from school. Since bringing your car down is very expensive, he will buy a vespa instead. Although this is an extra expense added in, it is still cheaper than staying on campus.

When he goes back home his job is not hurting like many other work places so he was able to get his old job back but no extra work for this student. In the past finding a second job was a breeze but no more.

Although it is not the case in many other work places, his job is secure for this upcoming summer. In the past, finding a job was a breeze, but this is not the case anymore.

This past year has already affected him already. He was unable to fly home as frequent as in the past, or as much as he desired, due to the fact air line companies have raised their prices. They too have been affected greatly by this recession.

Also, books are very expensive, and when you try to sell them back, you don't receive anything nearly close to what you paid for them. As a result, Pat felt he didn't really need to buy any books and just go through the year without them for any of his classes. He knew he could still get good grades without owning these over priced books. He could just borrow books from classmates this way he doesn't get ripped off from the bookstore.

His experiences going out on the weekends have also been affected. Clubs and bars have been forced to raise their prices due to the recession, which has hit Pat's wallet hard.

Now I know a night life is not as essential but it just shows that the recession is altering all parts of people lives.
Pat could easily ask his parents for money but he doesn't want to do that. He wants to be independent for as long as he can.

According to Pat “I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel and can’t imagine that changing anytime soon so I need to try and save my money the best I can.” This recession is going to be around for awhile and everybody will have to alter their lifestyle.