Applicant #14: Amy Reed

Amy Reed is a 22-year-old from Oakville.

Amy's video application:

Amy online:

+ Facebook

Amy's current situation:

I just graduated from college with my Bachelor's in English and a double minor in Math and Art. I'm taking time off from school to pay off my student loans. I am currently waiting tables at Steak N Shake. I want to go to graduate school in a year or two, but right now it's nice to have a break from school. I'm also enjoying spending time with my family this summer, especially my new niece Kaylene.

Amy's blog post:

Hey St. Louis!

As you all know we’ve been getting a lot of rainstorms lately. The rain always gets me thinking. I feel reflective and more aware of my surroundings. I become sensitive to how powerless I am in the face of forces like storms and flooding.

Sometimes I feel that same sense of weakness as an individual in our society. There are so many questions to think about. What if I choose the wrong credit card? What if I can’t survive on this income? What am I going to do!? And above all, what if I fail?

I want others to know that we won’t fail if we make the right choices, and we’re not alone in them, either. There are many who face the same challenges that I do. The best part is that we are all unique, and each has something important to contribute. There are so many easy ways to save money. Take shopping for example. If sale and clearance shopping was an Olympic sport, I would be a gold medalist. Between waiting for prices to drop and finding coupons, I hardly spend any money on clothes. And if I can do it, you can too.

Something really cool is about to happen in St. Louis, and Vantage Credit Union’s recognition of young people’s financial needs is just the beginning. What if every time you struggled with buying that car or renting that apartment there was a source you could rely on to help you?

Well now there is.

St. Louis’s Young and Free Spokesperson is not just and individual who represents a credit union, but someone who will help to create a community of people like me who can help each other, even when our life-decisions seem simple.

Of course the road ahead seems bumpy for a lot of us. I’m not even sure what my future holds in store. And I’ve made plenty of mistakes, which is exactly why I want to help. I want to live my life to the fullest while being responsible, so that at the end of the day I will watch the rain fall outside of my window and smile. I smile because even with my "wrong" decisions I’ve made it this far and I’m happy. I smile because I know the rain will stop sometime and the sun will come out. I also smile because I have people to rely on for help. Now we all do.

Sincerely,

Amy