Devious Journal Entry

What happened to my month? It's gone already!

So yesterday, we went up to Utah State again for this thing they do called Transfer Day, which is basically just where they invite all of the possible transfer students to campus once a month and talk about scholarships, housing, etc.  They feed you, and then you get to meet with your academic adviser, which is something I've been wanting to do ever since I got accepted.  Unfortunately, my adviser wasn't there, so I ended up meeting with the guy who I'd been emailing back in the summer trying to figure out which classes I could take that would transfer to USU.  I've got to say, he was a pretty interesting dude.  Very animated.  He was super loud and talking really fast and cracking jokes every other sentence and I was a bit overwhelmed, but he'd make a great story character.  Just saying.

Anyways, so we figured out that I'm only three classes away from being able to apply for the social work program, which is super awesome, but also kind of puts me in an awkward place.  They only accept applications to the program once a year, so I won't be able to apply until next Fall, which I already knew.  I didn't realize that I was so close to being done with all the requirements, though, and since 3 classes isn't even full-time for one semester, I'm going to have to figure something out and take other classes or something. I have to be full-time to keep my Pell grant, which I really need this year since USU is going to be more expensive that first year with out of state tuition.  So, I think what I'm going to do is take a couple of Spanish classes, and then one or two electives related to social work that I'd need to take once I'm in the program anyways.  I haven't looked at what's available yet, but the adviser guy was talking about child psychology, social justice, criminal justice, addiction studies--all of which sound extremely interesting to me, so I'm sure it won't be too hard to pick.  I'm totally done with generals though, which makes me immensely happy.

I also asked about getting into the program, just to figure out how hard it's going to be.  Specifically, I asked how many students apply and how many get in.  He said it's pretty competitive, and they've seen a lot more people applying than normal.  Last year, they had 170 apply, but they can only take about 50 every year.  So now I'm kind of freaking out about that.  I mean, sure, I still have a whole year before I need to worry about it, but that's not going to stop me from having a bit of a meltdown now.  That's less than 30%   The odds are a lot lower than I thought they would be.  Kind of discouraging.  I think that as far as grades go, I'll be ok, but then there's all this stuff they look at, too, like recommendations from professors and volunteer work and so on.  I'm hoping that the fact I've worked in a mental health nursing home for the past six years will be helpful, but other than that, I've got nothing.

And then of course there's all the other stuff I have to worry about.  Housing, finding childcare for the girls, paying for all that stuff, etc.  It's still several months away, but at the same time, it's getting closer and closer and I just need to figure out what I'm doing. The more I think about it, the more I think I want to get my Master's degree.  I can get into advanced standing with a bachelor's, which means I just have to do one year for the master's instead of two, so it would be worth it.  Everyone I've talked to in social work says you get paid significantly more with a master's, and most of the jobs I've sort of browsed (just for fun) want you to be an LMSW rather than just having a BSW.  But then they only accept master's students every 2 years, so assuming I get into the bachelor's program next year and graduate in 2018, I'll still have to wait a whole year to apply for the master's program.

Basically, all of that just means that we will likely be down there for at least five years.  Possibly more.  And since renting is so expensive and you're basically just throwing money down the drain, and since we are sick and tired of being forced to move out every 12-24 months (especially if Piper is going to start school in a year and half), we have been thinking about buying a house.  O-o  Kind of freaky.  That's just such an "adult" thing to do and I never really imagined we'd get to that point.  Plus, it's just scary.  All the paperwork and rules and everything.  And the MONEY! Ugh, I hate spending more than $15 on jeans so the idea of putting that much money into something just freaks me out a little.  But then I remember it would actually be a bit cheaper than paying rent and I feel a little better.  Also, I really want to decorate a house.  I stopped even hanging pictures on the walls a couple houses ago because I just got sick of trying to make the place look nice when it was all going to come down so soon.  We're in a really really good place financially right now, which is amazing considering the struggles and setbacks we've had for the past several years.  Most of that is due to my husband's efforts.  He still works two almost full-time jobs and recently sold his truck so we don't have to make payments on that anymore. Between that, and saving $200 on car insurance by switching to State Farm, and paying off the loan I had to get to go to school last summer, we save about $1000 every month. We've slowly been paying off some of our other bills and some of the medical stuff that's gone to collections, so hopefully by the time I go to Utah and stop working, we'll just be paying the basic stuff and then the car.  The idea is that we'll live in on-campus family housing for a year while we save money for a down-payment on a house (Having money to put in savings? What is this?), and hopefully within that year, our credit will improve somewhat (it sucks pretty bad right now just because of all the medical bills), and then we'll buy a house sometime that summer after my first year at USU.  That's the plan, anyways.  We'll see how it actually turns out.

In writing news, I'm down to the last 1.5 chapters of my story that I need to rewrite, so that's exciting.  I'll probably finish it this week and then start going through a (faster) edit before I send it to beta-readers.   Once it's out with betas, I'll have some time for art and will probably need the break from writing.  And then I think I'll take my own advice and write some short stories.  I always advise people to do that when they're struggling with finishing a novel or coming up with ideas or whatever, and I keep telling myself I'll write some eventually.  It just never happens, and it needs to.  I'd really like to try and submit some for publishing eventually, but obviously that won't happen if I don't write them.

In reading news, I started reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  I've actually never read anything by him before, but he's the favorite author of this writer friend of mine who I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for.  I decided to buy one of his books and this one looked most interesting, and so far, it has not failed to impress.  Seriously, this guy can write.  And the story is really interesting.  I love the characters.  Apparently, there have been talks of turning it into a TV show, so now I'm even more excited about it and wish I had more time to read.  Alas, school.  I've also really been wanting to read Lord of the Rings again, but I think my parents kept the books so I need to buy new copies.  I've been wanting a hardcover set for years but just haven't gotten around to it.  So maybe I'll buy one for my birthday in May or something.  I'm still slowly working my way through Dragon Age: Inquisition.  It's taking me forever, not because it's boring or anything, but just because I don't have much time and I only play when I really want to so that I don't end up feeling obligated to finish it or anything.  I think I have like 23 hours of gameplay or something, and I'm really enjoying it so far.

And now I should probably try to finish my homework before work.  I really don't want to go to work.  I'd rather stay home and do homework all day, as sad as that is.  *sigh*  Five more months.  In five more months, I can quit this job....