So, I am a middle child.... married to a middle child.... divorced parents... (you know I was in the middle of that), and now...at 28... I find myself stuck in the middle again. My husband (degree holder) earns a good living, but lately his paycheck has varied a little to much. No big deal, I have wanted to go back to school for a long time, and this seems to have driven the point home that I need a degree. We have two children who I have stayed home with, and it has been fantastic. However, these days if you want to truly thrive you almost have to have two incomes. Here I am in the middle of this. Ready to finsish my degree and start working..... mommy guilt wanting me to hold off. We need the income at this point. Another more frustrating situation I am in the middle of: My husband makes a good living, not a great one.... So while there are a million free programs out there benefiting some who need them and some who manipulate them... I don't have the money for college. Stuck in the middle. We really don't want to take out student loans, we don't have the budget to pay tuition out of pocket, and yet there are very few scholarships and no grants that I can qualify for. I made excellent grades when I was in school. Agreed, I should have gone to college immediately after high school, but my reasoning behind not doing so is not something I will delve into at this time. How is it that two hard working (I do several "odd jobs"), tax paying, praying, children raising people can get no assistance, and yet there are so very many people out there (some deservedly so and some not) who are being handed so very much and still expecting more?
If you know of any scholarships that I might be elliglbe for please let me know. By earning a degree I feel I will be setting an example for my children, other adults in my situation, and of course increasing my earning potential.
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I think it's great you're going back to school!
Have you filled out a FAFSA? There is so much aid available just by filling that out. The school you are going to may have a lot of financial aid to give you, but most of it may be need-based, and the FAFSA is how they determine if you're needy enough.
A lot of jobs will pay for you to continue your education, and many also offer loan repayments. You may want to look into the benefits of whichever job you want. Many places will let you work without the degree, as long as you're actually in school to get the degree and earn that degree within a certain period of time.
And if you look carefully at some loans offered, you may not even have to pay part or all of them back. I'm taking out a loan for school because I know I only have to pay back part of--it if I go into pulic health nursing, in a low-income area, which is what I want to do so I may as well take advantage of the free money.
Good luck to you! Your kids are lucky to have such hard-working parents. I hope they realize that as they get older. :-)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-