OK, I still have a couple of things on the list that I might make mention of later, but today I’m all about news. We've had a change of plans.
Over the weekend my air conditioner broke. This was a bigger crisis than you can imagine, because I’m made of 60% butter and 15% ice cream.
I was desperate to get the thing fixed and started calling every heating and cooling company I could find on Monday morning. The earliest I could get anyone out was Tuesday morning. Monday was the longest night of my life. I barely survived the humidity.
At 8 AM Tuesday the repair guy showed up. 2 fuses, 10 minutes and $70 later I was back to living in hermetically sealed, dehumidified, climate controlled comfort.
I decided to work from home and by noon the air was off and the windows were open again because of course it had cooled off and the humidity was gone.
But that was all background to explain what I was doing at home at 4 in the afternoon. Because that’s when the phone rang.
When I picked it up I recognized the voice on the other end and immediately began to imagine the worst. It was the admissions lady from the nursing school that I was accepted to. We’ve had some issues, her and I, and I was expecting to hear that there was a problem or that I wasn’t getting in after all. Even after having sent them my $500 deposit to confirm my admission.
But I was wrong! The program begins every May and goes 12 months. After completing it you have your very own Bachelors of Science in Nursing. It seems that the school has figured out there is a huge demand for nurses and a lot of people who are looking to make a career change. So they added another class that is set to begin in January of 2009.
The admissions lady wanted to know if I was interested in getting started 5 months earlier than planned. Hell yes I’m interested. So I made a quick call to check with Mona and see what she thought (her answer was “Hell yes!) and I sent an email confirming my desire to enter the January class.
So that’s it, I’ve only got to keep my job another 7 months. That should be really doable. I’ll quit at the end of the year and 2009 will be all about school.
I think this will mean buying a PC instead of the plasma, but I may have enough points to buy a decent tower and a midsize plasma with PC inputs that I can use as a TV and monitor. Or should I go LCD now since I want to use it as a monitor?
The only downside is I’ll be giving up 4 months of income on the front side. But we’re doing our best to save up now so we should make it.
So now I have a question. Does anyone know anything about getting scholarships and grants? I’m headed to a private school and tuition for even a year is surprisingly expensive. So far all I know I can get is $4000 from the state in exchange for my willingness to work 2 years in a hospital. I’m not sure if I really want to do that.
As always, your thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated.
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9 comments:
Financial aid assitance is usually available through your college's financial aid office. You might be able to search their website to see if they have a financial aid program. If you have their catalog, that info should be listed there, also. I know this is general. I'm a former high school guidance counselor, and I used to do this stuff quite a bit.
It's been a while since I was in college, but there are Pell Grants available. I went on the "My dad is paying for it" program. (totally lucked out).
Greg and ETW-
Thanks for the notes. I'll hit the Financial Aid office and see what they'll do.
The biggest hurdle is the whole "needs based" thing. I make too much with or without Mona's income to qualify.
For example, based on what I've read, Pell Grants generally go to people who make less than $20K.
I've tried to hit Big Lou up for the dough, but he said once was enough. :)
Any other hints or tips would be welcome.
This may sound too obvious, but have you googled "nursing scholarships" for your state or local area? I'd inquire at local hospitals, too. We have a community foundation which hands out many scholarships, most of which are designated for those studying a particular field. Your local public library might have some info, and don't be afraid to contact a guidance counselor at a local high school. They might have some information not generally available to the public.
And one more: banks. Banks administer trust funds, some of which are designated as scholarship funds, usually specific to a geographic area, area of study, etc. Depending upon the specifications of the trust, there might be something available which is not need-based.
All good idears, them. The school should be able to t fill you in on what's available for them as an entity outside the federally funded things.
Good luck on the aid hunt!
Greg beat me to it. Check with Financial Aid. You'd be amazed at the narrowly focused scholarships available out there.
fast web scholarships. I think it is either fastweb.org or fastweb.com. just fill out the questionaire and they send scholarships that you qualify for.
Hey, I appreciate all the advice, I really do.
I promise I'll be taking all of it.
I haven't talked with the Financial Aid people yet, because I want to finish one more pre-req first.
It's Developmental Psychology. I've had a ton of psych classes, just not this one. I think I can pass a CLEP test if I can get a hold of a text book to review.
Anyone have one that I can borrow?
I've been googling and will keep on it.
And Mona signed me up for fastweb and I'm getting those notifications already. Not a lot that I thin I can get, but I'm keeping an eye out.
Seriously, you guys rock! Thanks for all the help.
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