Alabama Life Skills Hosts Regions Financial Workout
10/11/2017 5:03:00 PM | General
Crimson Tide freshmen student-athletes take stock of their money and learn basic financial skills and concept during Regions Financial workshop hosted by Alabama Life Skills
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - There is no doubt that Alabama student-athletes are competitive and not just in the athletics arena either. Most Crimson Tide student-athletes want to be the best at whatever they are doing, whether competing in their sport, playing video games, playing pop-a-shot or pool, or even in the classroom where they want to come away with the best grade point average on their respective team.
That competitiveness was on full display at a recent event put on by The University of Alabama Athletics Department's Student-Athlete Enhancement program, through its Life Skills initiative.
Alabama's freshmen student-athletes opened October with this year's Regions Financial Workout, an interactive workshop that teaches the basics of financial health – from credit ratings to savings.
During the class, each student-athlete was assigned a fixed income for the month and they were then sent around to stations that presented different options on how they could spend their money on such essentials as housing and food as well as clothes, phones and entertainment. There were even random "Life Happens" cards dropped on several of the students as they moved from station to station to anchor the experience in the reality of unforeseen expenses.
By the end of each class, the freshmen were comparing notes to see who had the most money left over in their budget. While some overspent and ended up in the red, those who had funds to burn declared themselves, loudly and proudly, to be the winners.
Making sense out of managing your dollars and cents isn't easy. Bakari Miller, an assistant vice president at Regions and one of the presenters, admitted that even after graduating and working in the financial industry, he still struggled with personal budgeting early in his career.
"I enjoyed the experience of learning how to manage my money that Regions Financial Workout provided," UA Track and Field's Christian Edwards said. "It made me realize how bad decisions can put me in debt and that I shouldn't buy things I want before I pay for things I need."
Having professionals on hand at each station to help explain the choices and the intricacies that may lie under the surface of one choice over another gave depth to the workshop.
"We learned how quickly your money can go when you have bills to pay, so you have to be smart with how and when you spend your money," freshman gymnast Kylie Dickson said. "It definitely gave me a perspective on money and taught me how to use it properly."
Regions' Financial Workout program is the latest in a series of programming designed to fulfill Alabama Life Skills' mission to provide University of Alabama student-athletes opportunities for growth through personal development and service opportunities. The goal is to empower student-athletes to be difference-makers and people of positive influence as they pursue success at Alabama and beyond.
All the latest information on Alabama Athletics can be found via @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook. You can follow Alabama's Life Skills program on Twitter at @BamaLifeSkills.
