As the United States is launching attacks on Iran, many University students are feeling the reverberations back at home.
The war in Iran drives gas prices up, forcing many students to think critically about how they are spending their money and how they are managing their free time.
Many students pay for gas for their commute to school on their own. Ameer Ait Daoud drives his car every day, and the rising gas prices have led him to drive faster in an attempt to save money.
“Global politics shows up in our gas tanks, it shows up in our bank accounts,” Ait Daoud said.
Jocelyn Chimborazo commutes four days a week to school, and she has noticed it takes about $13 extra to fill her car up every two weeks. She works as a babysitter for extra funds, part of which goes toward gas.
“If prices continue to rise, I’m going to have to pick up another job,” Chimborazo said.
Rising gas prices do not just force students to seek additional sources of income. For many, an increase at the pump can mean less time with friends. Saad Saleem said the current situation has caused him to rethink his social life.
“I try to not go out [on the weekends] when there is no need to,” Saleem said.
A few students noted their financial anxiety around gas prices has caused them to forego other opportunities they could use to advance their careers.
“It’s access to opportunity in your life, it’s the ability to not feel constantly like you’re being drained financially for just trying to move forward in life,” Ait Daoud said.
Prices are not only blowing up at the pump, but in grocery stores and restaurants that students frequent on a night out.
University of Minnesota economics professor Jeff Peterson said, energy like gasoline, is an input for many goods in the economy.
“If costs of these inputs stay high, businesses will eventually pass them on to consumers in the form of higher prices,” Peterson said.
Chimborazo is one of the students who has noticed these higher grocery store prices.
“I’m not sure if this was before the war, but I’ve noticed egg prices are more expensive,” Chimborazo said.
Egg prices spiked at the beginning of the war, the United States Department of Agriculture reported.
Ait Daoud has noticed a similar trend, too, when shopping for food.
“You get five things, and it randomly goes up to 200 bucks, how can you survive? You gotta work harder,” Ait Daoud said.
As if personal finance concerns are not bad enough, emotional stress has doubled for students. Though miles away, students divulged their deep sympathy for those intimately affected by the war.
“Although it’s far away, it’s hard to see the innocent people being killed,” Chimborazo said.
Frustration with the war appears to be a top emotional stressor for students as well.
“Innocent lives are being lost, and we don’t have a reason to fight this war,” Saleem said.
While life is difficult for many students as a result of rising prices, Ait Daoud also recognizes his privilege.
“I’m not in Dubai or Saudi or Iran or whatever, so I’m not having their struggles. So their struggles [are] 10 times worse,” Ait Daoud said.