Struggling to Eat: The Harsh Reality of Being a Working Student

By Jennifer Chacon-Duran

Being an adult and a student is not easy. This is especially true if you don’t meet the required eligibility to receive the most aid possible. Angel Hernandez is a perfect example of this. Angel is a Berkeley City College student working “part-time” at a restaurant so he can afford to pay rent, utilities, and have some savings for a rainy day. After paying his bills and taking care of responsibilities, he has around $225 to spend on groceries, housekeeping items, clothes, and fun things. Angel applied to Calfresh to help him with the burden of buying groceries because his counselors at Berkeley City College recommended it. He was approved, but to his surprise, he would only receive $32 a month from the state to help him out. 

It is ridiculous that Angel is evidently struggling to survive on his paychecks alone, and when he asks for government help, he is awarded only $32 a month to pay for all his groceries because “he has enough income to support him.” No one can buy a month’s worth of groceries for only $32, especially not in the Bay Area. It is baffling that so many other folks in Angel’s shoes are forced to prioritize and skip different basic needs to account for their budgets. It is absolutely upsetting that Angel has to meticulously plan out his meals and often starve himself to have enough money in case unforeseen circumstances and events come up. Mind you, Angel is paid biweekly. That means he has around $112.5 for random things that might come up every two weeks. Again, it is so challenging to survive on that little money for such a long time.

The state of California is failing its residents. So many Californians are trying to sustain themselves but are falling short, and when they ask their government for help, they barely receive aid—if any—because they “make too much.” Obviously, that is not the case. How is it that California is deemed to be such a progressive state, yet we continue to let our residents struggle when they ask for help? We need to do better, not just for our students but for all our residents. No Californian should be intentionally starving themselves so they can pay their bills.