The Insanity

This isn’t a particularly fun or entertaining topic today…. but I’m desperate and feeling hopeless and there’s literally no one out there that I can call and say “HELP ME!!!?!?!?!” regarding the matter.

So here’s the deal — I was an idiot and I will own up to that and freely admit it – I decided to go to a college that was outside my price range and therefore depended on loans to pay for it.

$85,000 later I’m still not graduated because I’m out of financial aid, and the big kick in the pants about that is I only have 6 classes to take before I get my two degrees (AA in Screenwriting, BFA in Film Editing)

Well when I was young and dumb none of this mattered to me – the great and mighty “Someday” wasn’t affecting me then…but it is affecting me now. So here I am now, I’m 28 years old, I still haven’t finished college and I can’t finish unless I come up with the money on my own – I have no savings to speak of what-so-ever.

This isn’t a plea for pity, it’s a plea for ideas! I have thought about it until I’m sick, I can’t afford school on my own so finishing doesn’t seem to be an option, I don’t have any extra money to make the payments they want me to make on my student loans, my credit is beyond shot, and when I think of the big picture, of paying of that much money over my lifetimes it’s heart breaking. I’ll never have extra money to buy a home with, or anything like that.

So there you have it….does anyone out there in cyber land know of any ways I can either find some crazy way to make or get money to pay off my student loans, or save more of my own money (trust me I’m a crazy penny pincher as it is – I go as far as to make my own laundry detergent and fabric softener as of late, and it works well!!)  I just hear of all these people walking tight ropes around town instead of driving to raise money for themselves, or tap dancing through ice rinks… I dunno…

There’s got to be a way that Laura can fix this pickle she’s in. She’s in such a pickle she’s reverted to the 3rd person. That’s the first sign of insanity…if Laura doesn’t fix this pickle soon the insanity will just get worse!

It’s All About the Money

I filled out my fafsa (application for financial assistance for college) after talking with some very rude customer service representatives over at the fafsa website.

I think I screwed up, big time. When it comes to college at least. I know I’ve whined about it before, but honestly for the last 2 years I have just felt like I’ve been drifting through life without a purpose. And maybe I should just forget my two degrees and go find a career without them. I think it might be the near $100,000 debt I’ve collected myself after 8 years of college that has stopped me from out and out giving up on it all together.

Also the fact that I’m only 6 classes away from two degrees (an associates and a bachelors of fine arts) might have something to do with it.

I ran out of financial aid 2 years ago (Spring 2010 semester was the last I attended) and they keep telling me that if I pay interest on the parent loan my mom took out for me that I could reinstate my financial aid… but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m being lied to. I say that, because I was told this LAST year, and I got a big whopping zilch for financial aid then. That was after I paid $331 on the parent plus loan for 9 months, like I was told to do. They promised me if I paid those 9 months I’d get my financial aid back, but I didn’t.

So I talked to them again this year, two freaking rude people I might add. All I asked was if it actually true that I can get more financial aid after having paid off part of the parent loan I had. One told me, “financial aid is done one way, there can be no confusion.” OK jerk-wad I was just asking 1 question – can I in fact get financial aid again? If you think I’m dumb for being confused, keep it to yourself and answer my question. Which I again asked.

He said, and I quote, “1. Fill out your Fafsa”

I let him go.

I have no time for rude people. So I got a second guy, who was a little better but then it turned sour too when he said “it just says you MAY have reached your limit”, he emphasized the “may” and again making me feel dumb.

So moral of the story is…I still don’t know. I’m not hoping too much, but damn it would be great if after 10 years of being out of high school I could somehow manage to finish college.

Damn you Film School for being so expensive! I’m about to start a Send-Laura-Back-To-College-Fund-Raiser.