Not only has graduate school changed my routine, it’s changed the way I process things. Since I school started, I’ve made a concerted effort to focus on balancing my life. My goal has been to achieve the perfect equilibrium between personal time, work and graduate school. Despite my best efforts, or maybe as a result of my best efforts, I think I’ve swung pendulum too far in the wrong direction.
In the movie “About a Boy,” High Grant’s lifeless character divides his mundane days into half-hour time slots called "units.” During an instant message conversation this week, I suddenly realized I had begun to mentally compartmentalize my time in the same way. The discussion went something like this:
Chris: Hey, what’s up?
Me: Hey man…been meaning to call, but I’ve been busy.
Chris: Cool. It’s Lauren’s going away happy hour tonight. Sorry for the late notice. Can you make it?
Me: Ugh, no. Sorry, I have a bunch of stuff to do tonight.
On the surface, this appears to be an ordinary conversation consisting of a greeting, invitation and a decline to the invitation. However, between Chris’ invitation and my response, I had quickly calculated a simple equation:
Total 30 minute time units remaining in the evening (3) – dinner units (1) –
daily homework units (2) = social availability (0)
What’s wrong with this? Probably nothing, but the structure feels a bit robotic. Is my thinking really this becoming this segmented?
After pondering this dilemma, I have concluded that living in balanced time “units” makes an interesting character in a movie but lends itself to feeling like I'm living a vacant life. I think I need to rethink my approach. Maybe I should focus on finances like the rest of my fellow bloggers.
Number fifty-six
Friday, November 14, 2008
money...
Honestly, I’m not really feeling where graduate school is immediately affecting my finances. Like many of my peers, most of this expense is funded through student loans, so I don’t have lots of out of pocket costs. I do spend money on books, knowing the person I am, that money would be spent anyway on clothing or eating out, so it doesn’t bother me much.
In the less-immediate scheme of things, graduate school will have a huge affect on my finances, i.e. future financial decisions like purchasing property and vehicles, minimum salary requirements, prospective jobs, etc. With the realization of having to pay back more than $20,000, I’m now making wiser decisions on how I save and spend. While school debt is often seen as “good debt”, it’s one debt I’d like to get rid of as soon as possible. In a perfect world, I’d graduate from American with my wonderful degree, apply to a few high-paying jobs and be offered a position making triple my current salary, allowing me to pay off my debt quickly and pain-free. Hey, everyone has to dream, right? ;-)
- Patrice
In the less-immediate scheme of things, graduate school will have a huge affect on my finances, i.e. future financial decisions like purchasing property and vehicles, minimum salary requirements, prospective jobs, etc. With the realization of having to pay back more than $20,000, I’m now making wiser decisions on how I save and spend. While school debt is often seen as “good debt”, it’s one debt I’d like to get rid of as soon as possible. In a perfect world, I’d graduate from American with my wonderful degree, apply to a few high-paying jobs and be offered a position making triple my current salary, allowing me to pay off my debt quickly and pain-free. Hey, everyone has to dream, right? ;-)
- Patrice
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Visa - Keeping me where I want to be.
Last week I said that if I really wanted a social life, I would have to make it a top priority. Well when it comes to finances, graduate school IS my top priority. It goes without saying that pursuing a master’s degree is expensive and I, like most people, don’t have $30,000 lieing around. But where there is a will, there is a way. My way was going to be to sell my house in Florida, pay off any debts, bank some of the money and use the rest for school.
What I didn’t build into the equation were all the unknown variables - and Murphy's Law has revealed a few. It turns out the decision to go to graduate school is costing me a lot more than $30,000. What are the extra costs?
First I quit a very good paying job in Florida to move to the D.C. area to attend school. My plan was to find a job here with education benefits to help defray the cost of school. What I didn’t count on was that I would still be job-hunting a few months later.
Next the sale of the house has not gone as planned and I’m paying for my apartment here and the house in Florida. Ouch!
So how have I survived? First thank God for a savings account. I'm down to fumes but I’m holding out. Next, thank God for plastic. Visa’s tagline is “Everywhere you want to be.” Well I’m adding “Keeping me where I want to be.”
The financial challenge of graduate school goes beyond just paying for classes. It’s forcing me to pay for an adventure, but it’s still my top priority. No regrets.
Millicent
What I didn’t build into the equation were all the unknown variables - and Murphy's Law has revealed a few. It turns out the decision to go to graduate school is costing me a lot more than $30,000. What are the extra costs?
First I quit a very good paying job in Florida to move to the D.C. area to attend school. My plan was to find a job here with education benefits to help defray the cost of school. What I didn’t count on was that I would still be job-hunting a few months later.
Next the sale of the house has not gone as planned and I’m paying for my apartment here and the house in Florida. Ouch!
So how have I survived? First thank God for a savings account. I'm down to fumes but I’m holding out. Next, thank God for plastic. Visa’s tagline is “Everywhere you want to be.” Well I’m adding “Keeping me where I want to be.”
The financial challenge of graduate school goes beyond just paying for classes. It’s forcing me to pay for an adventure, but it’s still my top priority. No regrets.
Millicent
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Nickel & Dime or Priceless?
Tupac expressed it best, "tryna make a dolla outta fifteen cents..."
Who knew his lyric would play such a dominant role in the fall of 2008 - years after his death. Yes, the enrollment into graduate school has literally raped my pockets, but the current economic climate isn't quite healing those wounds either. The crisis that we are facing in America has taken a toll on how I cope with financial obligations. I've come to a crossroads where I don't know where to go. Walk with me:
Tithes (at least 10% of income)
Rent - $900
Utilities - $200
Cell Phone - $110
Metro (Had not been considered as I relocated from a pedestrian city) - $160
Car Expenses (note, gas, and insurance) - $520
Food - friends and family's leftovers
MA in Public Communication - Priceless
Given any other profession (medicine, business, engineering), I'd be at peace with repaying my post-graduate loans. However, where is the peace in the non-profit world? If I saved every dime of my income for a year, I still would not be capable of offsetting my student debt incurred from graduate studies.
Nonetheless, the interim requires me to continue loving PB&J, tap water, cereal, vintage clothes from mom, natural hair styles, mini vacations to VA, and no consumption of cable TV or internet at home. I must admit, the value that I've witnessed thus far has been priceless - it's allowed greater focus on school and more time for meditation. Exactly what I need at this ambiguous crossroads.
imani
Who knew his lyric would play such a dominant role in the fall of 2008 - years after his death. Yes, the enrollment into graduate school has literally raped my pockets, but the current economic climate isn't quite healing those wounds either. The crisis that we are facing in America has taken a toll on how I cope with financial obligations. I've come to a crossroads where I don't know where to go. Walk with me:
Tithes (at least 10% of income)
Rent - $900
Utilities - $200
Cell Phone - $110
Metro (Had not been considered as I relocated from a pedestrian city) - $160
Car Expenses (note, gas, and insurance) - $520
Food - friends and family's leftovers
MA in Public Communication - Priceless
Given any other profession (medicine, business, engineering), I'd be at peace with repaying my post-graduate loans. However, where is the peace in the non-profit world? If I saved every dime of my income for a year, I still would not be capable of offsetting my student debt incurred from graduate studies.
Nonetheless, the interim requires me to continue loving PB&J, tap water, cereal, vintage clothes from mom, natural hair styles, mini vacations to VA, and no consumption of cable TV or internet at home. I must admit, the value that I've witnessed thus far has been priceless - it's allowed greater focus on school and more time for meditation. Exactly what I need at this ambiguous crossroads.
imani
Balancing good fortune and the unknown
“They” say money doesn’t fall from trees. However comma, thank the Lord, money has been falling from the Department of State’s training budget tree and right into my school account. One of the perks of working for Uncle Sam is his gracious willingness to help his employees better themselves through education. Of course, the catch is this self-improvement has to be directly related to the employee’s job. Luckily for me, public communication relates to my job as a writer/editor. I’d like to think it also has something to do with my somewhat exceptional persuasion skills, both oral and written—a significant part of the stack of paperwork I have to fill out for each course involves justifying how the class relates to my job and convincing the powers that be that there’s a strong element of WIFM (what’s in it for me) for the organization.
But like “they” also say, all good things must come to an end. The department’s fiscal year 2009 budget hasn’t been approved yet, so we can’t spend more than we did last year this time. We’re on a “continuing resolution” until March or April. That’s going to be next to impossible considering we just hired a slew of new employees. Unless training money can only be spent on training, I will have to find another tree to shake to pay for grad school. Welcome to reality, right? Oh, and did I mention the new policy that came out last week places a $3,000 per fiscal year cap on tuition assistance? Needless to say, I'm already maxed out for the year! Regardless of what happens, I’m extremely grateful for the help I’ve gotten so far, and any debts I rack up from now on will be worth it.
-Misha-
But like “they” also say, all good things must come to an end. The department’s fiscal year 2009 budget hasn’t been approved yet, so we can’t spend more than we did last year this time. We’re on a “continuing resolution” until March or April. That’s going to be next to impossible considering we just hired a slew of new employees. Unless training money can only be spent on training, I will have to find another tree to shake to pay for grad school. Welcome to reality, right? Oh, and did I mention the new policy that came out last week places a $3,000 per fiscal year cap on tuition assistance? Needless to say, I'm already maxed out for the year! Regardless of what happens, I’m extremely grateful for the help I’ve gotten so far, and any debts I rack up from now on will be worth it.
-Misha-
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