Tuesday, April 14, 2009

So

My laptop is on the fritz.

I have a UTI.

I have not a lot of money to feed myself this month.

Reba has no monthly flea meds (Surprise! I thought there was one more.), her shots are due, and she needs a haircut in the worst way.

I have a CfH (Cold from Hell) that allows me to hack GGGs (Great Gobs of Goo) all day plus bestows upon me mounds of head congestion.

I'm not getting the fellowship I needed for next year, so without an amazing miracle plan that will give me about $35K, I will have to drop out one year from finishing my degree.

In short, I'm a broke, sick failure.



How is your April?

4 comments:

yanub said...

Well, I have student loans coming out of deferment that will run me about $800/mo. I make about $2000/mo. So, um, yeah. Let the self-recriminations begin. They don't tell you about that part of academia when you plot taking your GRE.

FridaWrites said...

Yanub, talk to them about economic hardship--they can often reduce the monthly payment.

I'm sorry about the challenges and am in a similar situation.

Sometimes students can take some leave for a semester or year without leaving the program. If you haven't already turned in a financial aid form, FAFSA?, please do so--you may be eligible for grants because of your lack of income--I received some even when we did have income. Please don't give up yet--there may be options. There are also a lot of dissertation grants and fellowships--you may have to take some time off while you apply. Also talk to disability services and financial aid directly, as well as your department chair or dean and see if they're willing to help out with some of the tuition--I've seen this help an international student in an emergency situation. It's no fun to take out a loan for the dissertation but you may be better off financially in the long term for doing it.

And no, you are not a failure. Most people could not make it this far, truly, and many drop out for non-financial reasons.

FridaWrites said...

Also, please see the list of financial resources on my blog--you may qualify for food stamps or other assistance; once you qualify for those, you can automatically get utilities assistance and other help. The process is time consuming but worth it.

Elizabeth McClung said...

Not a failure! Not a Failure!

fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge! Um Uti's suck but I hope they can fix that with the Cipro bomb. I am really sorry you have the cold, I hope it goes away soon, as head congestion makes you feel horrid and I know when it goes away it is like someone took off a bar-bell from your neck.

Not eating is not good, so says Lind to me all the time. Do you still not have money for food as I will ask Linda if she has some money or food.

I am not going to say it is good, or it doesn't matter. I am going to say that my GOD have expenses gone up at uni since I went! I thought you got some from teaching to help or is that part of the fellowship.

No, I don't believe that after all you did and hoped for the baby fish that this is it. I think the financial aid office or the student aid or the guidance office can help with options as being ONE YEAR away is unacceptable as you have to document the fish you have right - it is not like you can leave and then when you have 35K come back.

I am sorry about what is going on in the worse way, but I believe that you will come back and finish this and I hope you will let me know how you are doing?