ANNE BUIE

I could put that money toward a new computer. I could take skiing and snowboarding classes and still have money left over.

Instead, I'll be putting $506.26 directly toward my tuition next year and letting higher education officials decide where my money will be allocated.

That amount was approved when the UNC Board of Governors voted Feb. 10 to approve an average 8.8 percent tuition and fees increase across the system.

I'll be the first to admit that the tuition increase isn't ideal - but I'm okay with it.

Cartoon: AARON FAIRBANKS, Editorial Cartoonist

I've heard students complain about the tuition increase multiple times. Most reiterate the same fact: the increase is unfair. Unfair? Get used to it. Life isn't fair.

And life is what we're learning at Appalachian State University, even more than the material our professors are teaching us.

When you're 40 years old and your health insurance goes up $506.26, you're going to have to pay it. When you're 25 and your rent goes up $42.18 a month (adding up to $506.26 yearly), you're going to have to pay it.

Still mad about the tuition hike? Think about this: students at UNC-Chapel Hill have to pay an extra $695. And unlike us, they have to buy their textbooks. The rental book program is just one of the services we're lucky enough to have. If we want to keep it, we're going to have to pay a little more.

That $506.26 per student is going to enhance the quality of my education, regardless of who's choosing how to spend it: me or the university. And Appalachian hasn't given me one reason to assume they'll spend the money in inappropriate ways.

Education is priceless and if $506.26 is what I have to pay to ensure that it's a solid stepping stone to the real world - then, yes. I'll willingly pay it.

Buie, a freshman English and middle grades education major from Charlotte, is a senior news reporter.