:: Searching for Puck... ::

:: Monday, April 01, 2002 ::

My transcripts will hopefully be here by tomorrow.

I started filling out the fafsa online and got up to the part about my parent's info. I have to ask mom and dad for their w-2 forms and ss#'s tonight. I have to get it done because they say there's a 4 week usual waiting time, and I have to apply before May 1st. Come to think of it, I don't think I *need* my student aid report to apply to college...I think the tuition savings are retroactive. I'm going to end up applying to the college as an out-of-stater. I could probably fake it, but I don't want to jeopardize my academic standings by fibbing. The difference in tuition is absolutely frikkin crazy, though. It jumps from $5,189 to 12,368 per semester when you're an out-of-stater. And that's *without* room/board. Maybe I'm just naieve about these things, but that seems like a really frikkin huge difference, and fairly unwarranted. It's not like I'm taking space up in their dorms. If I was, I'd have to tack an extra $6,300 per year on for it, anyway. That's $1,000 more than in state students. A room is a room, in my opinon. There's no earthly reason why I should have to pay more for it. I'm already paying over twice the tuition. Christ. When I rule the world, things are gonna be *way* different.

Thankfully, I'll be living with Jon, so I don't have to worry about the astronomical dorm prices. Even if things fall through and he has to move closer to D.C., I'm still getting an apartment off campus. My figuring is this. Most likely, no matter what, I'm going to end up living with *someone*. Be it a dorm mate, a house mate, or my boyfriend. Playing devil's advocate and entertaining the notion that Jon and I might not be able to live together at this point in time, I'm left with a dorm mate or a house mate. A dorm mate, we'd live in the same room, in very close quarters. It's 538 a month, if I do it that way. I get a nice two-bedroom with someone, I'll estimate that it's roughly $1000 a month, because that's what they run here. That's 40 bucks a month less, I get room to breathe, and my own room. Even if it's a bit more, it's worth it to me for the privacy. And yes, I know about phone expenses and utilities and all that. I figure I'll make up a lot of it via buying food in bulk, and having a place to cook it. The room/board at school only gives you one meal a day...the rest of the time I'd most likely be eating out or ordering in, which gets *really* frikkin expensive near a metropolitan area.

Dad wants me to apply to several schools. The U of maryland is out...they don't have a business sector. Baltimore U might be nice, but something troubles me that they haven't bothered to update their tuition and fees pages since 1999. I'll call for a booklet. And, of course, good old brookdale here at home. The thought, at this point in my life, makes me physically ill.

I'm never going to get anywhere in life unless I get dropped in unfamiliar territory and have to survive. If I know I have a fallback, I get lazy and slack off. That's what happened the times before. Berkeley, I could drop out and stay home, or, later on in that semester, I could move in with SOD and do nothing but party and hang out over Marco's. At Bergen, I had Marco as a fallback. We lived together, and I thought at the time we were happy, and that we'd be together no matter what. Well, all my readers know how *that* ended. One might argue that the same instance could happen with Jon...but I know it won't. Because he inspires me. He's motivated and successful no matter what he undertakes, and being with him and in his influence is what stirred in me the desire to go back to school. Life means something to him, and he plans ahead for himself. I want to be like that, and I will be.

Right now, I'm just cursing this inordinate amount of paperwork I have to root through. You'd *think* that they'd make it easy for you to further your education, *especially* with all the huge wads of cash you're chucking at the administration. But nope. You have to pay *them* to have them consider if you're worthy enough to pay them even more money. $35 dollars here, $48 here, $29 here, all non refundable. "Hey, we decided that we don't want your life savings in lump sum increments each quarter...but thanks for the free $35 bucks and your hours upon hours of wasted time! The coffee room got a real kick out of your entrance "essay"."

I give up. ::sighs and goes back to filing::

~Fox "On a one way paper-trail to hell" Mackenzie


:: Fox 4/01/2002 02:59:00 PM [Say what?] ::
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