So when I was in high school I had a teacher tell their students that if their parents pay for their college they won’t work as hard. His reasoning was that they won’t appreciate it and it won’t mean anything to them. But if the student pays themselves, they will realize that college is expensive and work harder.

Now for some backstory...

My parents pay for all of my college including room and board. They don’t make a lot of money. They are both teachers. They saved their entire lives to be able to do this. They also didn’t have children until they were In their late 30’s. They have expressed that they believe in their children enough to invest in them, but it can be taken away at any moment. For example, if I get any less than a “B” in any class, they will stop paying. They also expressed that they were only able to pay for a public, in-state school. If we wanted to go to a private or out-of-state school, we would have to cover the rest of the expenses. We didn’t live an extravagant lifestyle and we rarely went on vacations. I am EXTREMELY blessed and appreciative for them to make the sacrifices they did in order to do this. It actually makes me work harder. I want them to be proud of me because they are spending so much on me. I rarely tell people I don’t pay for my schooling because it’s embarrassing. People look at me like I’m a rich snob and that I get everything handed to me. I really don’t.

I believe that just because someone else pays for your schooling doesn’t make you work hard. Throughout college I’ve seen plenty of people fail classes and skip classes while they pay for college themselves. I have also seen the opposite.

What are your opinions? Do you have any experiences like this?