Sifting through all the news stories that give highlight to the problems our generation will face is an endless task. You can literally sit there for hours and come out feeling more disheartened than you did before. Moreover, what is often presented to us is a faraway, nameless and faceless number.

Elgin Community College students feel those pressures, according to a survey conducted in three ECC classes. Of the 40 responses to a list of questions, students had wide-ranging views of worries them the most.

For some, it’s money to pay for school. For others, it’s finding the time to work and study. Meanwhile, to a small selection of students, it is their health.

The survey was conducted in late-September. Surveys were handed out to students in an English 102 section, a Communication Studies 101 section and Art 115.  About 5 additional surveys were handed to separate collection of students.

Each respondent was asked to answer the following questions: What’s your major? As a college student, what’s your biggest worry? Can you say that your financial upbringing was adequate? and Based on your anticipated college major, do you have a sense of what type of salary you will make after graduation?

With regards to a chosen major, there’s a heavy push towards Business, Health, and STEM degrees, with eight, seven and six students respectively listing them. Liberal arts, Education, and Other degrees tallied four, two, and six respectively. Lastly, seven students indicated that they were undecided at the moment.

To second-year culinary arts student, Phil Tierney, his reason for choosing this career path was simple.

“Early on, I asked myself, what is it that I like doing the most?” Tierney said. “Cooking. It’s something I’ve always loved doing.”

For question two, which asked “What’s your biggest worry?” the most popular answer, totaling 18, listed school-related problems as their biggest worry. These problems revolve around assignment deadlines, school workload and rigor of classes.

Austin Mignalia, a finance major, said that “not being able to finish all [his] work by the deadline” was his greatest worry as a student.

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough time,” Mignalia said.

Twelve students listed money as their greatest worry, with students like Phil Tierney further adding that money, and more specifically, “not having enough of it even from a young age,” greatly worries him.

“My financial upbringing was not the best,” Tierney said. “Both my parents struggled with money when I was younger, and I didn’t pay as good attention as I should have growing up.”

Worries related to our major, time management, and “failure” gathered six, nine, and six responses respectively. Only one student listed “health” as his greatest issue. Multiple students listed multiple worries.

The third question, “Can you say that your financial upbringing was adequate?”, generated a variety of different answers. Often, phrases like “I’m too broke” or “I come from a poor family” are feelings college students express. In the survey, however, only eight of 40 answered “no” to that question, with 30 students stating that their upbringing was adequate.

Forensic Chemistry major, Exavie Stivalet, said that his “financial upbringing sufficed.”

“I always had more than enough,” Stivalet said.

Question four, “Based on your anticipated major, do you have a sense of what type of salary you will make after graduation?”, gathered responses that greatly leaned towards one direction.

Twenty-four out of 40 said that they had a sense of what type of money to expect after graduation. Of this set, some, as was the case with students like Stivalet, had an even more specific idea of what type of money to expect and what type of experience needed to obtain it.

Meanwhile, 13 students indicated not knowing what type of money to expect after graduation. This was especially true for the “undecided” set of students.

Lastly, three students indicated not caring about the type of money they would make after graduation, with one anonymous student saying that though there is the “potential [ for the salary] to be high, it doesn’t matter. [It] involves what I love.”