Imagine trying to swim forward, but with each stroke, you feel the weight pulling you down. This feeling is very familiar to us students. It perfectly describes what student life is like today. We have to juggle finances, loans, unpaid internships, and the pressure to finish our studies on time.

Being a student should be a time when we can focus on our studies and professional growth. Instead, we constantly have to worry about whether we have enough money for rent, bills, and food, and how long we can keep working alongside our studies without burning out completely. Our diverse life situations need to be recognized, and financial support must be available to all, helping students focus on what matters most – their studies.

If, as a student, you want to do something relaxing in your free time, it often requires working alongside your studies. The situation becomes especially difficult for vocational students when mandatory internships begin, and many have to complete them without pay. This creates a constant challenge: how can we focus on our studies and internships when survival requires working almost all our waking hours or taking on more debt? International students, in particular, who face limited work opportunities and are not entitled to social security, are in an even more difficult position.

Financial insecurity is a part of everyday life for many students, and the current system for student support does not offer sustainable solutions. Loans are available, but they don’t address the financial challenges we face daily – rent, bills, and other essential expenses pile up, and after graduation, debt prevents us from moving forward in life freely.

Working alongside studies can help some of us stay afloat, but not everyone has the ability to juggle work, studies, and internships without it affecting their well-being and mental health.
In universities of applied sciences, funding models emphasize the number of graduates, creating extra pressure to finish quickly. But what happens if a student can’t meet these demands?

The pressure to complete studies quickly, combined with financial stress, pushes students to the edge of their limits. Funding models that prioritize quantity over quality force students to focus on performance rather than learning, which in the long run weakens both our resilience and our preparedness for the workforce.

Is this really the future we want, where students enter the workforce exhausted and without enthusiasm? When studying becomes nothing more than a fight for survival, how can we expect them to be eager to develop society and the workplace? We students don’t need more debt or pressure – we need real support that enables us to study without unreasonable financial burdens.

We students are not just future workers – we are already building this society. We have the right to receive the support we need to grow and succeed. We have the right to reach our potential without sacrificing our well-being and future opportunities. We can demand change.

Author: Ilona Hirvonen, candidate for SAMOK Board member for 2025

During the autumn, candidates for the SAMOK Board of Directors for 2025 will be presented on the SAMOK blog and on social media. For more information about the Federal Assembly, click here.